I don’t recall McCain attempting suicide (you may be thinking of fellow naval aviator Jim Stockdale) but he was definitely worked over very badly, and had opportunities to make it stop that he did not take.
In his book, McCain says he was ashamed that he gave them the name of his squadron (something they certainly already knew) but when he was asked to name officers in his squadron he gave them the names of the front line of the Green Bay Packers, and they bought it.
You’re 100% correct about people breaking under the sort of torture that the guys in the Hilton were receiving. When I was at Air force basic they told us that the Hilton had reulted in a complete rewrite of what pilots were expected to do when captured, because it was certain that the enemy would take the vast majority of them beyond their point of resistance.
At the time I was in (boot camp 1960) it was still name rank and serial number only and jail time or worse if you gave anything else up. The fools on this forum that would hold any man or women even tangentially responsible for folding under torture are living in an alternate universe. It is also a fact they are McCain haters all and most if not all are probably long time DU posters who have been ordered to "come out" by their leaders.
At the time I was in (boot camp 1960) it was still name rank and serial number only and jail time or worse if you gave anything else up. The fools on this forum that would hold any man or women even tangentially responsible for folding under torture are living in an alternate universe. It is also a fact they are McCain haters all and most if not all are probably long time DU posters who have been ordered to "come out" by their leaders.