[R. Scott]

I think it's safe to say he's a hero.

What did he do to attain hero status?

[Jeff Head]

By all reports, including from a man who was held there in Hanoi with him, McCain was offered an early release...but refused telling his captors he would go home with the rest, which resulted in his severe beating. In addition, according to the same source, he (McCain) organized dangerous protests against their NV captors when they would not allow them to hold any type of religious meetings or gatherings.

If true, and there is no reason to doubt this other POW, those are heroic actions at the time...though I disdain and am 4-square against many of McCain's positions and actions as a politician since...as I pointed out in post #3 on this thread.

[Tribune7]

If the article above is true and he led, for principles that we all agree with, resistance against people who would frequently torture him; and if he accepted, for those same principles, a state in which torture and simple discomfort were the norm, despite having a chance to leave, then I would say he has attained hero status.