Reply #17: Cold! Stone Cold! But I did find another Vietnamese man who says he was the one [View All]

who saved McCain - could there have been 2 men that did it? Here is another man who says he was the one who did it (?).

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/blog/2008/03/i_think_about_s.html&h=176&w=220&sz=7&hl=en&start=23&um=1&tbnid=uvIN3M7RAQp59M:&tbnh=86&tbnw=107&prev=/images%3Fq%3DJohn%2BMcCain%2Band%2Bman%2Bthat%2Bsaved%2Bhis%2Blife%2B%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

This was written by Nguyen Qui Duc who is a radio correspondent based in Hanoi. In 2003, he reported for FRONTLINE/World on how the war in Vietnam had affected his childhood. Over the years Duc has returned to his homeland as a journalist, reporting on the country's culture and establishing connections with writers and artists living in Vietnam. In "Looking For Home," Duc describes his journey as searching "for a bit of myself and for a country that always exists in my memory."

The Man Who Saved John McCain
BY Nguyen Qui Duc



ELECTION 2008

I think about Senator John McCain every day, because every day I walk my dog, Moto, around Truc Bach, or Bamboo Island Lake, not far from my house. It's just a 10-minute ride from downtown Hanoi.

The lake is where Navy pilot McCain went down in October 1967, during the height of the war in Vietnam. He was then, like other pilots, both a hated enemy, and a prize for the Hanoi leaders as they contemplated negotiating with Washington, DC.

During my walks, I often stop for a conversation with people around the lake. Few know about McCain's wartime story. Many who hang around the lake's cafes are too young -- born after the war against America. Then I come across a rather drunken old man who grabs me and shouts.

"I'm the one, I'm the one," Nguyen Dang Doanh keeps repeating. "I'm the one who jumped in with my comrades and plucked the American pilot McCain from this lake."

Nguyen Dang Doanh was 16 when McCain was shot down. He must have been a handsome young man. Now white-haired, he sits on the sidewalk outside his weather-stained apartment and drinks every afternoon. Competing with the annoying neighborhood loudspeaker, he tells me about his heroic moment.