Posted on 02/22/2008 12:54:53 AM PST by Kurt Evans
John Sidney McCain III entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland in 1954. Young McCain wanted to become an admiral. He planned to achieve the distinction of being the "first son and grandson of four star admirals" . But that was not to be. McCain III possessed none of the innate character and discipline traits that helped mold his father and grandfather into great military leaders.
Family Connections and Special Privileges:
His father, John S. "Junior" McCain, and grandfather, John S. McCain, Sr., were famous four-star Admirals in the U.S. Navy. His father commanded U.S. forces in Europe before becoming commander of American forces fighting in Vietnam. His grandfather commanded naval aviation at the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. Both men became highly influential in U.S. Navy operations.
At the Academy, aside being known as a "rowdy, raunchy, underachiever" who resented authority, Cadet McCain became infamous as a leader among his fellow midshipmen for organizing "off-Yard activities" and hard drinking parties. Robert Timberg wrote in his book , The Nightingale's Song, that "being on liberty with John McCain was like being in a train wreck."
McCain's grades were "marginal." He drew so many demerits for breaking curfew and other discipline issues that he graduated fifth from the bottom of the class of 1958. Despite his low "class standing," and no doubt because of the influence of his family of famous Admirals, McCain was leap-frogged ahead of more qualified applicants and granted a coveted slot to be trained as a navy pilot.
Good Party Animal - Bad Pilot:
He spent the next two and a half years as a "naval aviator in training" at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida and Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Texas, flying A-1 Skyraiders. While a pilot trainee, McCain continued to party hard. He drove a Corvette and dated an exotic dancer named "Marie the Flame of Florida." Timberg wrote that McCain "learned to fly at Pensacola, though his performance was below par, at best good enough to get by. He liked flying, but didn't love it."
McCain Lost Five Military Aircraft:
McCain, the "below par" pilot, eventually lost 5 military aircraft, the first during a training flight in 1958 when he plunged into Corpus Christi Bay while trying to land. The Navy ignored the crash and graduated McCain in 1960.
While deployed in the Mediterranean, the hard partying McCain lost a second aircraft. Timberg described the crash: "Flying too low over the Iberian Peninsula, he took out some power lines which led to a spate of newspaper stories in which he was predictably identified as the son of an admiral."
Unscathed, McCain returned to Pensacola Station where he was promoted to flight instructor for Naval Air Station Meridian in Mississippi. The airfield at Meridian, McCain Field, was named in honor of McCain's grandfather.
In 1964 McCain became involved with Carol Shepp, a model from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he had met at Annapolis. They were married in Philadelphia on July 3, 1965.
Flight instructor McCain lost a third aircraft while flying a Navy trainer solo to Philadelphia for an Army-Navy football game. Timberg wrote that McCain radioed, "I've got a flameout" before ejecting at one thousand feet. McCain parachuted onto a beach moments before his plane slammed into a clump of trees. The Navy dismissed the crash as "unavoidable" and assigned McCain to the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal in December 1966, which was patrolling the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean.
In Spring 1967, the Forrestal was assigned to join the Operation Rolling Thunder bombing campaign against North Vietnam. McCain lost his fourth plane on board the Forrestal on July 29, 1967 when a rocket inadvertently slammed into his bomb laden jet. McCain escaped, but the explosions that followed killed 134 sailors. McCain was transferred from the badly damaged Forrestal to the USS Oriskany. Shortly afterwards, on Oct. 26, 1967, he was down and captured by the Vietnamese.
Post-POW Years: Political Ambition and a New, Young, Rich Wife:
Upon his release from North Vietnam and return to the United States in 1973, McCain reunited with his wife, Carol, who had been permanently crippled in a car accident while he was a POW. Still yearning to become an admiral, McCain enrolled in the National War College at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. and underwent physical therapy in order to fly again. The Navy excused his permanent disabilities and reinstated him to flight status, effectively positioning him for promotion.
Timberg described McCain's advancement: "in the fall of 1974, McCain was transferred to Jacksonville as the executive officer of Replacement Air Group 174, the long-sought flying billet at last a reality. A few months later, he assumed command of the RAG, which trained pilots and crews for carrier deployments. The assignment was controversial, some calling it favoritism, a sop to the famous son of a famous father and grandfather, since he had not first commanded a squadron, the usual career path."
While Executive Officer and later as Squadron Commander McCain used his authority to arrange frequent flights that allowed him to carouse with subordinates and "engage in extra-marital affairs." This was a clear violation of the Military Code of Conduct rules against adultery and fraternization with subordinates. But, as with all his other past behaviors, McCain was never penalized; instead he always got away with his transgressions.
Timberg wrote, "Off duty, usually on routine cross-country flights to Yuma and El Centro, John started carousing and running around with women. To make matters worse, some of the women with whom he was linked by rumor were subordinates . . . At the time the rumors were so widespread that, true or not, they became part of McCain's persona, impossible not to take note of."
In early 1977, Admiral Jim Holloway, Chief of Naval Operations promoted McCain to captain and transferred him from his command position "to Washington as the number-two man in the Navy's Senate liaison office. McCain was promptly given total control of the office. It wasn't long before the "fun loving and irreverent" McCain had turned the liaison office into a "late-afternoon gathering spot where senators and staffers, usually from the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, would drop in for a drink and the chance to unwind."
In 1979, while attending a military reception in Hawaii, McCain met and fell in love with Cindy Lou Hensley, 17 years his junior, who was the daughter of James W. Hensley, a wealthy Anheuser-Busch distributor from Phoenix, Arizona. McCain filed for and obtained an uncontested divorce from his wife in Florida on April 2, 1980 and promptly married Cindy on May 17, 1980.
He resigned from the Navy in 1981 and went to work for his father-in-law in Phoenix; where he used the opportunity to make powerful and wealthy friends in Arizona including banker Charles Keating and Duke Tully, the editor-in-chief of the Arizona Republic. Keating was later convicted of fraud, racketeering, and conspiracy and Tully was disgraced for concocting a phony military record of combat in Korea and Vietnam including medals for heroism. McCain ran for Arizona's First Congressional District in 1982. McCain won the congressional seat. In 1987 McCain was elected to the Senate.
McCain did the right thing. We can't be making personal attacks ad nausea for the next nine months, the presidential candidate is above that.
Perhaps down the pike, the RNC, Coulter or vice presidential candidate could light a few sparks along the way.
It's all about doing the right thing rather than what feels good.
Again, if McCain thinks he does not need the base--I wish him all the luck in the world.
McCain is under a lot of pressure, considering what happen to Allen (macaca) and Lott (Thurm remark). Let's cut him a little slack.
McCain apologizes for Cunningham,,,,yet McCain has YET to demand an apology from B.Hussein Obama for Hussein's daily, BLATANT lies about McCain "100 Year WAR" comment? Unbelievable.
With a 'powder puff' like McCain running against someone who plays HARDBALL like Obama,,,,McCain will lose BIG TIME.
Enjoy President B. Hussein Obama.
Do what you will. I’ll do what I know is right.
Some polls have McCain ahead of Obama. If he loses, it will be because of picky picky pseudo conservatives that we see so much of on FR.
Mark
How dare McCain joke about starting a war with Iran or North Korea... No decent human being, let alone someone who would be President of the US would ever joke about something like that... And would CERTAINLY NEVER joke about launching an attack on the Soviet Union!
Mark
Yep.
As the reasoning goes, the great disaster that would befall America during the next four years would then makes it easier for a conservative to win the White House in 2012.
As for me, the physical safety of America comes first and my politics comes second.
He is a nut case! ted sampley is full of crap he married a woman whose husband was mia so he could become part of the mia family and that helped him along with his smear campaigns.
she divorced him after only 2 years. Guess she found she was being used by that nutcase and he was using mias to make money!
well, at least he is an Annapolis grad, unlike John Kerry the 90 day wonder who Served in Vietnam (for the VC no doubt)..
Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican, called the man, Ted Sampley, “one of the most despicable people I have ever had the misfortune to encounter.”
Mr. Sampley, a businessman from Kinston, N.C., has gained some attention in recent days for operating a Web site devoted to attacking Mr. Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, for his opposition to the war in Vietnam after his military service. The Web site, www.vietnamveteransagainstjohn kerry.com, includes pictures from the 1970’s showing Mr. Kerry at antiwar protests. One shows Mr. Kerry at a rally, sitting several rows behind Jane Fonda, who was so outspoken against the war that she was labeled a Communist by her political opponents.
...
In 1993, Mr. Sampley was convicted of misdemeanor assault and sentenced to 180 days’ probation for attacking a legislative aide to Mr. McCain.
And he is despicable. The man whose video is up on vets dispatch his son is mia. Sampley told him that Mccain knows where he is but wont release the info !
that poor man was calling mccain constantly, if mccain was on a radio talk show he would call in and ask where his son was etc. what sampley has done is totally disgusting and despicable
Thanks for the corrections
However there are no MOH winners -ask any of holders of the MOH and they will all tell you they are recipients- they did not win anything
I have had the pleasure and honor of working with many of them.
True.
Yes - I see your point. The semantics of that argument always come up with the nation’s decorations. When I wore my decorations, I never said “won” for any of them either, but then I never wore the Congressional either. It is the only medal that some people refer to that way, and I don’t mind if you disagree with it.
Please just ask any of the MOH recipients if they like being called winners- its not semantics or me disagreeing with you- many people lack the knowledge of what is the process of receiving combat awards. I am sure you don’t but sometimes words are very powerful and have special importance. I had 4 MOHs on my Board of Directors.
You might find this link interesting.
http://www.artbyec.com/artvsmg3c.htm
Best Regards
Edward
PS
I have often heard and seen written the reference of “Winner” to medal recipients other than the MOHs.
I have never has a single military person ever disagree with the term, recipient vs winner - you are the first and I hope the last.
OK OK ...I get it..Make sure he doesn’t fly Airforce One
“What are we to do?”
Support Governor Huckabee.
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