According to the guys who served time in the Hanoi Hilton with McCain, he is not hero. In fact they say he sang like a canary to the Viet Cong to get some special treatment. His canary singing plus being the spoiled son of an Admiral in charge of Pacific Operations made him a favorite with the Viet Cong and Jane Fonda, but not with his cell mates.
I have heard that without knowing it first hand. I heard he was offered an early out for consideration but had to turn it down because he was so ordered.
I can't criticize any of it at this late date, because I don't know for sure, and can't begin to fathom what those men experienced.
There were and are POW's whom the rest of them shun. McCain wasn't one of them or so I think.
It would be nice if he would understand that neither his experience nor the Constitution give him the right to tell others how to live. He never seemed to get that.