The whole thing is a little complicated for me, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.
Like a lot of characteristics that define a person, they can be a double-edged sword. Loyalty is one of those things, in my opinion.
For years, I turned a blind eye towards McCain because Of his naval Service. I was very fortunate after some of the posts that I made here on free Republic, that some of our fellow conservatives took the time to gently help me see the situation more clearly. (Kind of like the old saying about honey gathering more flies than vinegar does)
It was difficult for me, because I had Grown up wearing wristbands with POW names on them, me and my friends knew who most of them were, and my parents had socialized with some of them. Then, to complicate it even further, I not only served under him for a short period of time, I did my service in his actual squadron that he had flown combat in, so everybody was well-versed in the history of what happened. (Never mind the ribbing that we used to get from other squadrons who would tell us that we started the fire on the USS Forrestal!)
I was very reluctant to level criticism at him, which was a richly deserved.
I've been thinking about the whole Viet Nam effect on the US. For just about everyone in our generation, it tore us apart from the dreams and expectations we grew up with. Our parents believed WW2 would end war for good, and Korea was an adjustment that had to be made as the world settled down. During the cold war, we trusted Ike to keep the world safe. And then along came Viet Nam, with a whole new set of reasons to go to war.
I don't think I'm alone in this. It's just not right to criticize or judge anyone about their Viet Nam experience, having never been there and having never been in the situation to have to decide what I'd do if faced with fighting a war I didn't want to. So, no, I won't judge McCain on what he did there, but it certainly doesn't excuse his behavior since. Most people who suffered because of Viet Nam lead good, decent lives, and have not advocated sending others to wars that might have been avoided.
And then the hypocrisy gets to me. The "Swift-Boating" of John Kerry was inexcusable. What he did in the war is not fair game, and the double standard is particularly disturbing.
The Trump situation criticizing McCain's war record? It was harsh. But McCain can't expect to remain unscathed if he insists on calling people he disagrees with whacko-birds and crazies, etc. I'm glad someone finally pushed back.
As far as criticizing Trump's not being in the war? Like I said earlier, "don't criticize what you don't understand". It's just not fair game to judge young men's responses when faced with that situation.
Thank you. This has been a good exercise in clarifying my own very difficult emotions about that era and the fallout from it.