What heroics in his early life?
The only reason McStain got an appointment to the Naval Academy was because both his father and grandfather were Navy admirals. McStain finished fifth from the bottom of his class.
He had a reputation as a womanizer and hard drinker while in the Navy.
He was shot down because he disobeyed orders and flew under the ceiling. The other men in his squadron flew above the ceiling as ordered and were not shot down.
The North Vietnamese called McStain “songbird” because he gave them valuable information that may have resulted in the shooting down of other pilots.
Retired Army Colonel Earl Hopper, a veteran of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, claimed that McStain gave the North Vietnamese highly classified information that North Vietnam used to greatly improve their air defense system. As a result, according to Col. Hopper, the North Vietnamese were able to shoot down sixty percent more aircraft.
In addition, McStain’s wife, who had been badly injured in a car wreck while waiting for him to come home, was dumped by McStain for another woman, the (now) Cindy McCain.
Quite a guy.