“I am more interested in why McCain was on the very first helicopter off the Forrestal after the fire, when he was not wounded or burned in the fire.”
An acquaintance was serving on the Forrestal when the fire occurred.
His words were that everyone on the ship hated McCain. From his fellow pilots to the flight deck crew, cooks and even people who ordinarily had no contact with him he was the most reviled individual on the ship.
By getting McCain off the ship the officers removed a politically protected imbecile who made any situation worse.
My acquaintance said that McCain being shoved off was the single best thing to come out of the fiasco in the short term.
Many of the ships personnel voiced the regret that JM wasn’t amongst the dead.
The navy learned many lessons from the Forrestal that save lives today.
Sadly they never learned their lesson about John McCain.
Thanks for that information.
Your friends comments ring true about McCain.
After the Forrestal, he was assigned to the Oriskany.
He was specifically instructed by the more senior pilots at what level to fly, to avoid being shot down.
Of course, he did not listen.
McCain’s version is that he was shot down by a missile—at 3,000 feet.
The truth is, he was shot down by ground fire.
I call him the first Soviet ace of the Vietnam Era. Including the plane he was shot down in, he wrecked five planes in his aviation career.
He might as well have been working for the other side.