James Stockdale, Perot Running Mate, Dead at 81

AP ^ | AP-ES-07-05-05 2002EDT

[rlmorel]

Sorry if that seemed directed solely at you, it wasn't.

It just irritates me to no end to see all the posters on this thread saying "Poor Stockdale, Evil Perot"

Admiral Stockdale was not dragged into that election unwillingly. If he did it, he was willing to accept what was involved.

Men like Stockdale are not taken advantage of. If he was going to take hits for his support of Perot, I am sure that he was willing to take them.

There are people on this thread who want to use Admiral Stockdale as a tool to bash Perot. Give it up. Give the Admiral his respect without using him to get your hits on Perot. There are plenty of reasons not to like or agree with Perot or his candidacy, but what he did for the POW's cannot and should not be assailed, and what Stockdale wanted to do for Perot out of gratitude, respect and loyalty was a direct end result of Perot's efforts on behalf of the POW's.

The people who made fun of Admiral Stockdale's "who am I and why am I here" line are the people who were least equipped to understand that the line was a direct result of the philosophical education and training he had received. I am sure the Admiral saw that.

It didn't "surprize" him as I am sure it did some of the posters on this thread who seem somehow sophisticated enough to know what was best for Admiral Stockdale when they infer that he didn't know it himself.

[moose2004]

A brave and patriotic man whom is a model to us all. May he rest in peace.

[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."


McCain is responsible for whatever respect or disrespect he garners for himself. Elevating himself to speech 'god' and the best friend the lying liberals have while wearing the opposition party mantle is not excused because he found himself a POW.

[Jonah Hex]

May you have fair seas and following seas, Admiral. Requiescit in pace...

[SunnyUsa]

funny SNL bits on that guy

[Pukin Dog]

I can knock McCain for getting shot down, and for being a bad pilot to begin with.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank God for this hero!

[ironcitymike]

That's two Citadel Presidents in one week. Gen Seignious died 7-3.

[1Old Pro]

God Bless him. Unfortunately instead of being remembered for his great service to our country he'll be remembered as being on a ticket with a lunatic because he was a loyal person. He wasn't up to it and it was grossly unfair of Perot to put him in that position.

[merry10]

Thank you for posting that.

[merry10]

The reason he walked around the podium was that they gave the three candidates tall stools to sit on. His knee always gave him tremendous pain. He could not just sit and let it dangle.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

One of the greatest Americans of all time. When I was a mid at the US Naval Academy, I had the great honor of hearing the Admiral speak at a Forrestal Lecture: a humbling experience.

Fair winds and following seas, sir. You will be missed.

[merry10]

He did not have daughters. In Love and War only discussed sons. Maybe a daughter in law? Or a grandchild?

[chariotdriver]

Stockdale & McCain.
Both Navy pilots, both flew A-4 aircraft, both shotdown over Vietnam in combat missions by AA & or SAM, both brutalized while POW.

[ShellieGOP]

"He did not have daughters. In Love and War only discussed sons. Maybe a daughter in law? Or a grandchild?"

I followed the OJ trial pretty closely, and I distinctly remember Gretchen Stockdale being touted as his daughter... I did a search, and nothing came up. They say the memory is the first to go.... :)

Maybe she was a neice, or maybe it was just that *that* information was incorrect. He indeed had only sons.

Ms Stockdale is now an accomplished attorney in L.A., leaving behind her "softcore" career.

[merry10]

Seriously, Read "in love and war" and you will read the story of two american heros - Admiral Stockdale and his wife, Sybil, who refused to give up.

[Pukin Dog]

Stockdale flew many aircraft types. McCain flew the A-4 because he was not good enough to fly others. McCain did things at the Academy and Flight School that would have gotten kids who were not the son and grandson of Admirals tossed out of each. McCain was near the bottom of his class; there is more, much more, but the point is that while you might find similarities between McCain and Stockdale, I can tell you about hundreds of differences between those two men.

[chariotdriver]

Yes I read about his Academy and Flight School antics pretty bad. I would probably have been thrown in jail for the same stuff.

You said he was a bad pilot, maybe thats why he got the A-4 but thats not why he got shot down over Hanoi, that was just the breaks.

My take is not really about McCain or any of the other personalities as I don't know any thing of them except from what I read. My take is more to that lots of people can be (on a sliding scale) a screwup rise to greatness, fail slide back, screwup some more etc.

Even if the A-4 was not the most desired airplane it was still taking the ordinance downtown. McCain or whoever, you have to give them that. I remember seeing footage of 105's Wild Weasel missions, the whole mountainsides lit up with AA fire and SAM's directed at them, AND THEY'RE ROLLING INTO IT

Finally I need to remember people cant read your mind on the Freep even if they think they can so I need to explain better from where I approach an issue.

[Pukin Dog]

Any man who flew the -105 was a hero. And the A-4 was a fine airplane. McCain is generally considered heroic because of his POW stint. Many have debated whether or not he behaved admirably during his captivity, but I will leave that for others. My point is that McCain in an airplane was always an accident-ready-to-happen, and that he never was qualified to perform that role, but had it handed to him from pure nepotism.

[rlmorel]

Pukin Dog, why do you say that? Lots of good, even great pilots get shot down. Was he a bad pilot to begin with? I never heard that he was a BAD pilot, though from all I have read indicates he was a middle of the road pilot. Did you have personal experience with him, or read it somewhere he was an accident waiting to happen?

He was my Commanding Officer in my first squadron, and I never remember seeing him fly, so I cannot comment. I did know he was only two years removed from being a POW, and was in pretty bad shape physically, and often wondered how he got command of a squadron, even though it was just a training squadron. How on earth could he have got flight clearance with his history?

Point is, I have no love for McCain politically. But he did serve his country under difficult conditions. If Stockdalel said he was a good man and served well, I believe him. Doesn't mean I support McCain-Feingold or anything else he stands for politically, but unless someone knows he did something detrimental to our country when he was a POW, I wish they would come out and just tell us what it was.