Among the stories going around the internet to try and draw off support for John McCain is one questioning McCain's heroism as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese. Indeed, the charges go beyond even that; they brand McCain a liar and a traitor. Even World Net Daily has allowed space for this story, one that is mysteriously "founded" on rumors about secret discussions between an anonymous Russian secret agent and the CIA (an organization that Jack Wheeler refers to in the WND article as "a left-wing, liberal outfit" whose "main job for some time now is not attacking America's enemies but conservatives in general and George W. Bush in particular").Well, Silver Star recipient Jim Howie Warner is a former Marine Corps naval flight officer who was shot down on Oct. 13, 1967 and spent more than five years in harrowing North Vietnamese prisons with John McCain. And though Warner is upfront about his many disagreements with McCain on political issues, he utterly rejects the secret traitor story.
Below are a couple of excerpts of Warner's riveting article from today's Front Page Magazine.
Recently, I have seen several allegations that condemn Senator John McCain for his behavior as a prisoner of war. I believe that these allegations are false. I am in a better position than the Senator’s accusers to know the truth since I was a prisoner with him, having been captured a little over a month before him. I have contacted hundreds of my comrades on our e-mail list and not one of them can confirm anything that has been alleged against McCain.
Let me tell you what they have told me and what I saw myself, and answer some of the charges. First, I should say that I have great respect for Senator McCain, even though I am at odds with him on many issues and have remained distant from his campaign. I say this up front because I think that a defense mounted by one of his supporters would be less credible...
We have no evidence that Sen. McCain received special treatment. Since he was as thin as the rest of us, if he did, it was not in the form of decent food. It is alleged that he was taken into Hanoi and put up in a hotel with prostitutes. This is an improvement on the allegation spread during the 2000 campaign that he was given a Vietnamese woman to live with him in his cell, an allegation that led me to ask why, if he was my friend, didn’t he ask if she had a sister? Even when he was in solitary confinement, he was constantly in contact with others. Further, we always knew about movements within the camps, because the Communists simply were not competent at preventing us from gaining intelligence. Men who were in the camps with him agree that they are not aware of a single night that he spent out of his cell...
The Communists were thoroughly frightened. Given the history of Communism, we had no illusions as to what might come from this. They had killed 100 million people to maintain their control. What would a few American pilots mean to people like that? For much of our incarceration they had threatened to execute some of us.
John McCain was involved in planning and carrying out these confrontations in order to gain the right to worship in our cells. He knew what we were risking. At sundown, on March 19, they came, first to McCain’s cell, then to ours. A total of 36 of us were taken, at gunpoint, out of the cells. Outside our hands were tied, then our elbows tied behind our back, and we were blindfolded. We did not know what was about to happen, but I am certain that none of us thought we were being taken to a hotel to have a party with Vietnamese girls. To our relief, we were taken to a camp where we were put in solitary confinement for the next seven months.
I may not agree with John McCain on some policies. However, I will go to my grave remembering the American officer who helped organize men to defy an enemy who wish to deprive us of religious observance. Even today I cannot hear “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” without tears, as I am still moved by the courage of the singers and the leadership of John McCain.
