I am a Viet vet. I was taught to resist, to delay, to confuse, to obfuscate, and, if need be, to die, giving them NOTHING!!
The POW’s at the Hanoi Hilton became political bargaining chips. The North Vietnamese, under the direction of the Chinese, since neither had ever signed The Geneva Convention (of course only held to the Western World), there were no limits to what those guys had heaped on them, but they did break the UCMJ.
There are those that were in there with John McCain that will have nothing to do with him, and I can see why. John McCain, the admiral’s son, got himself shot down, and became a ‘pet’ of the North Vietnamese.
By the way, it is NOT ‘VN’, it is one word, ‘Vietnam’. ‘VN’ is a Naval classification.
So according to you, all the POWs that broke are all weaklings. It is clear your statement makes clear you feel all POWs that broke are dishonorable and worthy of scorn. That is the message you are sending.
Previous posts explain the Code and why the Code was adjusted because most all POWs broke and those that did break believed they violated the code and would be prosecuted and that added untold stress to their captivity.
When attending SERE had the honor of meeting a couple of former VN POWs, and they were very helpful in understanding the psychology of captivity and torture, and the effects of being broken (yes, they broke).
The American military understood the POW experience in NVN was not Hogan’s Heroes by any measure and they understood you can be broken and you should resist to the utmost of your ability, but not to the point of death. That was the “escape clause.”
Notwithstanding your position, as long as you gave all you had to resist, you would “return with honor.”
Being broken is not collaboration.
You are letting your McCain hatred cloud your judgement and causes you to smear the honor and courage of all POWs that broke, not only during the VN war, but those in the Gulf War. . .they were tortured, too.
It’s all been said and nothing new is to be said. See my previous posts as they have answers/replies to any further posts you may have.
Certainly, you must agree that further exchanges would only be to engage in a flame war/insult fest, and that is for juveniles and children, not adults.
Cheers