Replies

We use the word “hero” most liberally nowadays. Were all the Union troops who were captured by the confederates heros? What about our troops who were captured by the Japanese during WW II? It can be quite easy for a pilot to get captured while following orders to fly over enemy territory. During WW II, more than a few of our aviators were captured after crash landing into enemy territory. We were glad to get them back, but few of them were seen as heros.

WIKIPEDIA: McCain's plane went into a vertical inverted spin.[110] Bailing out upside down at high speed,[111] the force of the ejection fractured McCain's right arm in three places, his left arm, and his right leg at the knee, and knocked him unconscious.[111][112] McCain nearly drowned after parachuting into Trúc Bạch Lake in Hanoi; the weight of his equipment was pulling him down, and as he regained consciousness, he could not use his arms.[105] Eventually, he was able to inflate his life vest using his teeth.[105] Several Vietnamese, possibly led by Department of Industry clerk Mai Van On, pulled him ashore.[113] A mob gathered around, spat on him, kicked him, and stripped him of his clothes; his left shoulder was crushed with the butt of a rifle and he was bayoneted in his left foot and abdominal area. . . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_life_and_military_career_of_John_McCain

I’ve read that McCain was not following the proper flight path nor at the right altitude when he was shot down. He was a “hot shot” who crashed three planes before he was shot down. Had his father not been an Admiral he would never have made it past reciprocating engine training in Corpus Christi. In fact, he crashed while training in Corpus Christi.