Maybe that's why McCain had high office aspirations. He was an American Ace. He destroyed 6 American aircraft all by himself and then .....? Anchors Aweigh my boys, anchors aweigh!
When I lived in Tulsa back in the early 70s, I was a Social Security Claims rep for a couple of years. One guy came in applying for Social Security, and when I saw his DD214, I asked him about his Navy experience.
It turned out he was a PT boat captain and was in the same squadron as Kennedy. He said Kennedy was well liked by all the men and they all knew he was well connected.
Of course he also said that being rammed was the worst embarrassment a PT Boat Skipper suffer. The PT Boats were the fastest things on the sea.
McCain almost outdid JFK when he nearly sank the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal.
You need to discount two of McCain’s plane losses. One was during the Forrestal fire when a Zuni rocket on a Phantom accidentally went of and hit his Skyhawk. The other was when his Skyhawk got hit by a SAM. A good number of good pilots got shot down by SAM’s.