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McCain was immediately offered a chance to return home early: the North Vietnamese wanted a worldwide propaganda coup by appearing merciful, and also wanted to show other POWs that elites like McCain were willing to be treated preferentially.McCain turned down the offer of repatriation, due to the Code of Conduct principle of "first in, first out": he would only accept the offer if every man taken in before him was released as well.

I have to call bull$hit on this one. During my Navy career I was a Brig Warden at one point. Stop for a second and imagine what would have happened if one of my prisoners declined to be released after three days of bread and water! Prisoners do NOT have the option of saying "No" to a release order. They could have easily put him on an airplane to a country which was not a party to the conflict.

What amazes me is that there are so many of the general public who don't think this kind of statement through....talk about naive. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised. After all, the liberals don't think there's anything wrong with homosexuality, but stop and think about the mechanics of what they're talking about.

"McCain turned down the offer of repatriation, due to the Code of Conduct principle of "first in, first out": he would only accept the offer if every man taken in before him was released as well."

I have to call bull$hit on this one. During my Navy career I was a Brig Warden at one point. Stop for a second and imagine what would have happened if one of my prisoners declined to be released after three days of bread and water! Prisoners do NOT have the option of saying "No" to a release order. They could have easily put him on an airplane to a country which was not a party to the conflict.

And when you were the Brig Warden, what international propaganda value were you trying to get out of that First Division screw-up?

McCain's refusal, or attempts at refusal to be released would have turned the propaganda coup the North Vietnamese were desiring into a major propaganda embarrassment for them.

The bottom line is that this particular fact has been corroborated by the historical record, namely, Averell Harriman diplomatic cable of September 13, 1968:

"McCain's refusal to be released was even remarked upon by North Vietnamese senior negotiator Le Duc Tho to U.S. envoy Averell Harriman during the ongoing Paris Peace Talks.[61] "

61. ^ Timberg, An American Odyssey, p. 209. Harriman's September 13, 1968 cable said: "At tea break Le Duc Tho mentioned that DRV had intended to release Admiral McCain's son as one of the three pilots freed recently, but he had refused."

Prisoners do NOT have the option of saying "No" to a release order. They could have easily put him on an airplane to a country which was not a party to the conflict.

VERY good point! And why would they want to release him early anyway?