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James Stockdale, Perot Running Mate, Dead at 81
AP ^ | AP-ES-07-05-05 2002EDT

Posted on 07/05/2005 5:14:55 PM PDT by TheOtherOne

James Stockdale, Perot Running Mate, Dead at 81
The Associated Press
Published: Jul 5, 2005 WASHINGTON (AP) - Retired Vice Adm. James Stockdale, a former prisoner of war and Ross Perot's running mate in 1992, has died, the Navy announced Tuesday. He was 81.

The Navy did not provide a cause of death but said he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. He died at his home in Coronado, Calif.

In the 1992 presidential election, Stockdale became independent candidate Perot's vice presidential running mate, initially as a stand-in on the ticket but later as the candidate.

Stockdale gave a stumbling performance in the nationally televised vice-presidential debate against Dan Quayle and Al Gore and later said he didn't feel comfortable in the public eye.

During the debate, he commented on an exchange between Quayle and Gore:

"I think America is seeing right now the reason this nation is in gridlock. The trickle-downs and the tax-and-spends, or whatever you want to call them, are at swords point."

When Perot ran again in 1996 as the candidate of his Reform Party, Stockdale had rejoined the Republican Party.

Stockdale was born in Abingdon, Ill., and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1947.

During the Vietnam War, he was a Navy fighter pilot based on the USS Oriskany and flew 201 missions before he was shot down on Sept. 9, 1965. He became the highest-ranking naval officer captured during the war, the Navy said.

He endured more than 7 1/2 years as a prisoner, spending four of them in solitary confinement, before his release in 1973. He was tortured repeatedly, according to the Navy.

Stockdale received 26 combat decorations, including the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest medal for valor, in 1976. A portion of his award citation reads: "Stockdale ... deliberately inflicted a near mortal wound to his person in order to convince his captors of his willingness to give up his life rather than capitulate. He was subsequently discovered and revived by the North Vietnamese who, convinced of his indomitable spirit, abated their employment of excessive harassment and torture of all prisoners of war."

He retired from the military in 1979.

Survivors include his wife, Sybil, and four sons.

AP-ES-07-05-05 2002EDT


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: alzheimers; hero; jamesstockdale; medalofhonor; moh; navy; obituary; perot; pow; stockdale; veteran; vietnamveteran
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To: G32

He was James Bond Stockdale. He was here to serve his country, which he did well at.

That is who he was and why he was here.

He was one of my personal heroes. Lots of people have piece of crap celebrities, atheletes, actors, musicians as their heroes when they are kids.

Admiral Stockdale was one of mine. One of my goals in life was to meet him, shake his hand and say "Thank you".


61 posted on 07/05/2005 7:20:32 PM PDT by rlmorel ("Innocence seldom utters outraged shrieks. Guilt does." Whittaker Chambers)
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To: TheOtherOne

Rest in peace Admiral Stockdale. At the time that Adm Stockdale was on the Perot ticket it was my feeling that he was doing what he thought was best for this country. Still serving his country tho obviously not in the best of health. He was a stand-in who was ill used by Perot. I believed then and still do, that Perot was a fraud, never intending to win and quit when he looked like he might. Came back to save face and keep the charade going, knowing that enough votes would stay siphoned off to put Clinton in office.


62 posted on 07/05/2005 7:27:06 PM PDT by mountainfolk (God bless President George Bush)
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To: TheOtherOne

"Survivors include his wife, Sybil, and four sons."

I thought he also had a daughter... Remember Gretchen Stockdale? She was a defense witness in the OJ trial. She was always written about as his daughter...

Does anyone know?


63 posted on 07/05/2005 7:31:08 PM PDT by ShellieGOP
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To: ExcelJockey

Give it a break. Stockdale did it because he thought it was the right thing to do. Sure, as a politician, he was a square peg in a round hole. But, knowing him as you undoubtedly do, do you think he would have done it if he thought it was the WRONG thing to do? No way.

He did it out of loyalty, and gratitude to Perot for what Perot did. And he did a lot for the POW's, and not for his own personal gain.

Say what you will about Perot, his involvement with the POW's was not a charade to further his own objectives. He was pushing it when nobody gave a good damn about them.

It is true that Perot enabled the Clintons to gain the White House. I voted for Perot almost completely because he had Stockdale with him. It was one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made, and I sure do regret it.

My dad was a 30 year naval veteran, and we lived overseas during nearly the entire Vietnam war. As a kid, I was completely into the plight of the POW's. I knew their names and stories. I had the bracelets, the whole nine yards. I went to Andrews AFB when they released them and flew them home, and watched it all on television.

When I joined the Navy, My first squadron Commanding Officer was Commander McCain (VA-174). I sure don't respect him politically, but I sure do respect him for what he did for his country.

Bottom line, Admiral Stockdale deserves our unmitigated respect for what he did, because he did it out of principle. It may have been wrong, but he did it for all the right reasons.


64 posted on 07/05/2005 7:33:12 PM PDT by rlmorel ("Innocence seldom utters outraged shrieks. Guilt does." Whittaker Chambers)
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To: ShellieGOP

I think she was a cheerleading friend.

http://www.markfauser.com/mizzou/gretchen.html


65 posted on 07/05/2005 7:33:20 PM PDT by TheOtherOne (The scales of Justice are unbalanced.™)
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To: G32
"Gridlock!"

OMG, is there anything funnier than the Phil Hartman impersonation on SNL? Do you remember him chasing after the car with 'Ross Perot' in it? Priceless.

66 posted on 07/05/2005 7:33:35 PM PDT by Trust but Verify
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To: Pure Country
He said that his greatest honor was when they carried him out on a stretcher amid fire and his men stood up in the midst of it and saluted him.

He knew whose opinion mattered. Thanks for sharing.

67 posted on 07/05/2005 7:46:46 PM PDT by SunTzuWu
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To: ExcelJockey; All

I didn't like the way the media portrayed him, either.

You can be sure he didn't appreciate it either, but I will bet you a buck he just shrugged it off.

For a man who went toe-to-toe with his inquisitors in that North Vietnamese hellhole, I do not think for a second that Admiral Stockdale lost any sleep over the way he was ridiculed.

I think he was just too at peace with himself and who he was to be offended by Saturday Night Live or their ilk.


68 posted on 07/05/2005 7:46:47 PM PDT by rlmorel ("Innocence seldom utters outraged shrieks. Guilt does." Whittaker Chambers)
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To: rlmorel
Whoa, where did that come from?
Obviously I don't know him, and the media certainly portrayed him as a confused old man, which I thought was not befitting the dignity of his station.
Regardless, I still blame Perot. He should have known that Stockdale would not be able to perform under that kind of spotlight, and he sent him out on that stage like a sacrificial lamb. This has nothing to do with the man's undoubted courage as a combat vet, it has to do with the brutal reality of modern politics. See Kennedy vs. Nixon 1960 for further discussion.
69 posted on 07/05/2005 8:24:23 PM PDT by ExcelJockey
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To: Trust but Verify
OMG, is there anything funnier than the Phil Hartman impersonation on SNL? Do you remember him chasing after the car with 'Ross Perot' in it? Priceless.

It was very funny in the context of how the debate went for a truly great American and soldier who was thankfully not a real politician. I think the skit made some good digs at Perot in the fact that he tries to ditch the Admiral only to have the Admiral end up running as fast as the car ("Never ditch a war hero - Tenacious with a capital T!")

Unfortunately the skit did play it's main premise as the Admiral being aloof with lines like (from memory) "And when you sat there for ten minutes without saying a thing...well that was just precious. I loved, Marge loved it and we all are the better for it."

I agree with other posters that perot placed a great man totally out of his enviroment and gave Americans an unfair impression of aloofness. Then again maybe many voted for Perot because of the genuineness the Admiral presented in contrast to the "pros". In the final analysis, I believe that the Admiral gave his word and like the true man and honarable soul that he was, he followed through. Admiral Stockdale - you will always be a hero, a patriot and an inspiration for all of my years left on this mortal coil. Rest In Peace - you've earned it.

70 posted on 07/05/2005 9:12:37 PM PDT by torchthemummy (Ron Bonjean: "Deepthroat...Deanthroat...Dean likes the taste of his own foot.")
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To: TheOtherOne

An American hero. His story is amazing. It is unfortunate that all most will ever know of him, if they know of him at all, will be his dalliance with perot.

RIP sir - you deserve it.


71 posted on 07/05/2005 9:24:24 PM PDT by pittsburgh gop guy (Be not afraid...)
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To: Ditter
I didn't mean to sound sharp. I don't have much patience when it comes to Perot

I know what you mean. Some of the family voted for him and I couldn't believe they did. Blood was thicker than common sense, I guess.

72 posted on 07/05/2005 10:11:46 PM PDT by Pure Country
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To: All

During the Vietnam War, Stockdale was a Navy fighter pilot based on the USS Oriskany and flew 201 missions before he was shot down on Sept. 9, 1965. He became the highest-ranking naval officer captured during the war, the Navy said.

Stockdale was taken to Hoa Lo Prison, known as the "Hanoi Hilton." His shoulders were wrenched from their sockets, his leg had been shattered by angry villagers and a torturer, and his back was broken. But he refused to capitulate.

Rather than allow himself to be used in a propaganda film, Stockdale smashed his face into a pulp with a mahogany stool.

"My only hope was to disfigure myself," Stockdale wrote in his 1984 autobiography "In Love and War." The ploy worked, but he spent the next two years in leg irons.

After Ho Chi Minh's death, he broke a glass pane in an interrogation room and slashed his wrists until he passed out in his own blood. After that, captors relented in their harsh treatment of him and his fellow prisoners.

Stockdale spent four years in solitary confinement before his release in 1973.

He received 26 combat decorations, including the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest medal for valor, in 1976. The citation reads, "By his heroic action at great peril to himself, he earned the everlasting gratitude of his fellow prisoners and of his country."

He retired from the military in 1979, one of the most highly decorated officers in U.S. Navy history, and became president of the Citadel, a military college in South Carolina. He left in 1981 to become a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford.

Stockdale came to know Perot through Sybil Stockdale's work establishing an organization on behalf of families of prisoners held during the Vietnam War.

When Perot ran again in 1996 as the candidate of his Reform Party, Stockdale had rejoined the Republican Party.


73 posted on 07/05/2005 10:17:01 PM PDT by TheOtherOne (The scales of Justice are unbalanced.™)
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To: YankeeFan

Right - Stockdale was basically dragged into it by Perot. I remember seeing Stockdale during the 1996 GOP convention being asked why he was on Perot's ticket in 1992 and he said the lesson was "think before you speak."


74 posted on 07/05/2005 10:17:13 PM PDT by Republican Wildcat
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To: 54skylark

Agreed. May God accept this warrior with open arms, he has spent his time in hell.


75 posted on 07/05/2005 10:24:02 PM PDT by Smokin' Joe (Grant no power to government you would not want your worst enemies to wield against you.)
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To: Pure Country

Two members of our family voted for Perot. Funny, they are the people who think they are smarter than everyone else too. Boy were they surprized.


76 posted on 07/05/2005 10:28:18 PM PDT by Ditter
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To: ducks1944; Ragtime Cowgirl; Alamo-Girl; TrueBeliever9; anniegetyourgun; maestro; TEXOKIE; ...
Retired Vice Adm. James Stockdale, a former prisoner of war and Ross Perot's running mate in 1992, has died, the Navy announced Tuesday. He was 81.

The Navy did not provide a cause of death but said he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. He died at his home in Coronado, Calif.


77 posted on 07/05/2005 10:29:58 PM PDT by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
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To: TheOtherOne

RIP to a great man...


78 posted on 07/05/2005 11:09:28 PM PDT by in the Arena (CAPT (USAF) James Wayne Herrick, Jr. (Call Sign: FireFly33). MIA Laos 27 Oct 69)
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To: Valin


GOOD post, thanks.


79 posted on 07/06/2005 2:08:09 AM PDT by onyx (Pope John Paul II - May 18, 1920 - April 2, 2005 = SANTO SUBITO!)
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To: Pukin Dog; Just mythoughts

Nobody has to like McCain as a pol, but unless a person has been a POW, nobody else can rightfully knock McCain for his POW years.


80 posted on 07/06/2005 2:15:52 AM PDT by onyx (Pope John Paul II - May 18, 1920 - April 2, 2005 = SANTO SUBITO!)
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