The Navy did not provide a cause of death but said he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. He died at his home in Coronado, Calif.
Posted on 07/05/2005 5:14:55 PM PDT by TheOtherOne
He was James Bond Stockdale. He was here to serve his country, which he did well at.
That is who he was and why he was here.
He was one of my personal heroes. Lots of people have piece of crap celebrities, atheletes, actors, musicians as their heroes when they are kids.
Admiral Stockdale was one of mine. One of my goals in life was to meet him, shake his hand and say "Thank you".
Rest in peace Admiral Stockdale. At the time that Adm Stockdale was on the Perot ticket it was my feeling that he was doing what he thought was best for this country. Still serving his country tho obviously not in the best of health. He was a stand-in who was ill used by Perot. I believed then and still do, that Perot was a fraud, never intending to win and quit when he looked like he might. Came back to save face and keep the charade going, knowing that enough votes would stay siphoned off to put Clinton in office.
"Survivors include his wife, Sybil, and four sons."
I thought he also had a daughter... Remember Gretchen Stockdale? She was a defense witness in the OJ trial. She was always written about as his daughter...
Does anyone know?
Give it a break. Stockdale did it because he thought it was the right thing to do. Sure, as a politician, he was a square peg in a round hole. But, knowing him as you undoubtedly do, do you think he would have done it if he thought it was the WRONG thing to do? No way.
He did it out of loyalty, and gratitude to Perot for what Perot did. And he did a lot for the POW's, and not for his own personal gain.
Say what you will about Perot, his involvement with the POW's was not a charade to further his own objectives. He was pushing it when nobody gave a good damn about them.
It is true that Perot enabled the Clintons to gain the White House. I voted for Perot almost completely because he had Stockdale with him. It was one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made, and I sure do regret it.
My dad was a 30 year naval veteran, and we lived overseas during nearly the entire Vietnam war. As a kid, I was completely into the plight of the POW's. I knew their names and stories. I had the bracelets, the whole nine yards. I went to Andrews AFB when they released them and flew them home, and watched it all on television.
When I joined the Navy, My first squadron Commanding Officer was Commander McCain (VA-174). I sure don't respect him politically, but I sure do respect him for what he did for his country.
Bottom line, Admiral Stockdale deserves our unmitigated respect for what he did, because he did it out of principle. It may have been wrong, but he did it for all the right reasons.
I think she was a cheerleading friend.
http://www.markfauser.com/mizzou/gretchen.html
OMG, is there anything funnier than the Phil Hartman impersonation on SNL? Do you remember him chasing after the car with 'Ross Perot' in it? Priceless.
He knew whose opinion mattered. Thanks for sharing.
I didn't like the way the media portrayed him, either.
You can be sure he didn't appreciate it either, but I will bet you a buck he just shrugged it off.
For a man who went toe-to-toe with his inquisitors in that North Vietnamese hellhole, I do not think for a second that Admiral Stockdale lost any sleep over the way he was ridiculed.
I think he was just too at peace with himself and who he was to be offended by Saturday Night Live or their ilk.
It was very funny in the context of how the debate went for a truly great American and soldier who was thankfully not a real politician. I think the skit made some good digs at Perot in the fact that he tries to ditch the Admiral only to have the Admiral end up running as fast as the car ("Never ditch a war hero - Tenacious with a capital T!")
Unfortunately the skit did play it's main premise as the Admiral being aloof with lines like (from memory) "And when you sat there for ten minutes without saying a thing...well that was just precious. I loved, Marge loved it and we all are the better for it."
I agree with other posters that perot placed a great man totally out of his enviroment and gave Americans an unfair impression of aloofness. Then again maybe many voted for Perot because of the genuineness the Admiral presented in contrast to the "pros". In the final analysis, I believe that the Admiral gave his word and like the true man and honarable soul that he was, he followed through. Admiral Stockdale - you will always be a hero, a patriot and an inspiration for all of my years left on this mortal coil. Rest In Peace - you've earned it.
An American hero. His story is amazing. It is unfortunate that all most will ever know of him, if they know of him at all, will be his dalliance with perot.
RIP sir - you deserve it.
I know what you mean. Some of the family voted for him and I couldn't believe they did. Blood was thicker than common sense, I guess.
During the Vietnam War, Stockdale was a Navy fighter pilot based on the USS Oriskany and flew 201 missions before he was shot down on Sept. 9, 1965. He became the highest-ranking naval officer captured during the war, the Navy said.
Stockdale was taken to Hoa Lo Prison, known as the "Hanoi Hilton." His shoulders were wrenched from their sockets, his leg had been shattered by angry villagers and a torturer, and his back was broken. But he refused to capitulate.
Rather than allow himself to be used in a propaganda film, Stockdale smashed his face into a pulp with a mahogany stool.
"My only hope was to disfigure myself," Stockdale wrote in his 1984 autobiography "In Love and War." The ploy worked, but he spent the next two years in leg irons.
After Ho Chi Minh's death, he broke a glass pane in an interrogation room and slashed his wrists until he passed out in his own blood. After that, captors relented in their harsh treatment of him and his fellow prisoners.
Stockdale spent four years in solitary confinement before his release in 1973.
He received 26 combat decorations, including the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest medal for valor, in 1976. The citation reads, "By his heroic action at great peril to himself, he earned the everlasting gratitude of his fellow prisoners and of his country."
He retired from the military in 1979, one of the most highly decorated officers in U.S. Navy history, and became president of the Citadel, a military college in South Carolina. He left in 1981 to become a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford.
Stockdale came to know Perot through Sybil Stockdale's work establishing an organization on behalf of families of prisoners held during the Vietnam War.
When Perot ran again in 1996 as the candidate of his Reform Party, Stockdale had rejoined the Republican Party.
Right - Stockdale was basically dragged into it by Perot. I remember seeing Stockdale during the 1996 GOP convention being asked why he was on Perot's ticket in 1992 and he said the lesson was "think before you speak."
Agreed. May God accept this warrior with open arms, he has spent his time in hell.
Two members of our family voted for Perot. Funny, they are the people who think they are smarter than everyone else too. Boy were they surprized.
The Navy did not provide a cause of death but said he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. He died at his home in Coronado, Calif.
RIP to a great man...
GOOD post, thanks.
Nobody has to like McCain as a pol, but unless a person has been a POW, nobody else can rightfully knock McCain for his POW years.
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