“ Happily for all of us, John came through without a scratch”
Admiral John D. McCain II
As quoted from correspondence reviewed by historian Mary Hershberger
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/investigating-john-mccains-tragedy-at-sea/
“Lieutenant Commander John McCain of VA 46 was hit by shrapnel as he jumped out of his plane and ran across the deck.”
A Ship Full of Heroes” (PDF). All Hands. pp. 7–11.
- https://www.navy.mil/ah_online/archpdf/ah196711.pdf
Re: 87.
Will point out that the person who wrote that article relied on anonymous sources for some of the key points:
“Some of those who were on the Forrestal and other persons familiar with the ordnance told me that because the rocket did not hit McCain’s craft, only actions by the pilot could have caused any bomb to fall from McCain’s Skyhawk. These sources — who spoke under the condition that they not be publicly identified — agree with each other that, if any bomb fell from the McCain airplane, it was because of actions that he took either in error or panic upon seeing the fire on the deck or in his hasty exit from the plane. Two switches in the cockpit of a Skyhawk need to be thrown to drop such a bomb, according to the sources.”
Sorry. If people aren’t willing to go on the record, their comments deserve closer scrutiny and additional skepticism - especially in such a key point.
WTF would you have him say? "Thankfully John was killed, we need that SGLI payment. Putting in new carpet."