McCain’s fellow POW’s know what he did what he did not do. I know quite a number of his fellow POW’s and they have never shared this information with me. Many of my friends say the same thing. Among military professionals, the general understanding is that the POWs lips are sealed. POW’s acknowledge that all of them broke under torture, and some of them made filmed statements.
That is my understanding as well.
They had to develop their own code to determine when a man would talk and when a man wouldn’t. A one size fits all approach clearly didn’t work, and they knew it. (If the US Military didn’t think their Code of Conduct for POWs was unworkable, they never acknowledged it at that time.)
I am pretty well read on the POWs, and have connections via association to McCain (He was my CO at one point for a few months) and I know that they expected a man to resist where he could, and not judge him when he broke.
The inconsolable grief and guilt that men felt when they broke, even if it took extensive torture to do so, brings tears to my eyes just thinking of it.
Some men broke immediately under torture, some took time, and there were a few who died under torture rather than give in.
Heartbreaking and sad.
What a lonely ordeal that had to be, on the other side of the world, being told your country, your military, your girlfriend/wife, or your family has forgotten you.
From the accounts I have read as a POW, you had only your faith in God, your country, your comrades, and your family to keep you from the blackest of despair. (not necessarily in that order) That was why communication was so vital, and why they risked beatings, torture, and death to communicate with each other, to know they weren’t alone, to buttress each other.
To “Keep a steady strain” as the Navy puts it.
So, in that light, I leave it to the POW’s themselves to pass judgments. I can’t bring myself to do it.
That said, I can pass judgment on his performance as a public official, and my judgement is harsh and unforgiving. I will leave it at that.