“I see heroism in his refusing to be released from the Hanoi Hilton for propaganda purposes while other soldiers were still being held.”
Untrue. He was ordered not to leave by Adm. Stockdale and the reason was he said ‘we all go home together’. So McCain had to stay.
This came out of a book he wrote in 1984 I believe.
Even if he was following orders it was still heroic to choose to follow those orders and continue to be tortured rather than to disobey the orders and be released from the torture.