Col. Trần Trọng Duyệt, the man who was in charge of the North Vietnamese prison where John McCain was held as a POW for six years during the Vietnam War, has offered his condolences............. the colonel said he’d spent a great deal of time getting to know McCain while he was held in the prison, which is now a museum. “At that time I liked him personally.....he and Senator John Kerry greatly contributed to promote Việtnam-U.S. relations so I was very fond of him,”
Prison turned musem, eh? I'm gonna guess the texts there read something like: "And in this room the gentle People's Revolutionary Guards drank tea and ate little cakes with the well-cared-for prisoners every day. Sadly, some prisoners died at the prison. From diabetes. From the sweetness of their gentle jailors". *walls covered in totally not shopped photos of soldiers playing with puppies*.
McCain and the whole “maverick” schtick was funny and annoying at the same time. He will always have my respect during his military career and suffering at the Hanoi Hilton along with the other POW’s.
IMO I don’t think he told the truth during the “Keating 5 S&L scandal”, however he skated and I’ll have to accept that.
He was also one of the biggest warmongering Senators in US history. And since we really suck at nation building post Marshall Plan the collateral damage he and his colleagues have wrought we’re still feeling the effects today.
His presidential campaign demonstrated why being a “maverick” wasn’t needed at the time. Sure NH saved his bacon and in turn got him the nomination and I’m sure he regrets choosing Sarah Palin as VP. But he was honorable by correcting the woman who disparaged candidate Obama and for that he earns my hat tip.
Like any long time career politician they were highs and lows. As a Federal Civil Servant I wished he took the time and see the problems the Dept of Veterans Affairs were going through during his tenure. He always had the respect and admiration from the majority of the men and women that served our country. And with that street cred things could’ve been done for the better.
The army brat reminds me that a fallen serviceman requires my attention and respect. And the next time I travel to Arlington National Cemetery, during the change of the guard his memory will be added to the list of all of the fallen that I have met, known, or learned of.
