McCain and Torture: Has their been any objective journalism....

.... on this topic? ( By ' objective' I mean written by someomeone unsympathetic or non-sympathetic to the US military campaign ). Does the gov't of VN agree that he was 'tortured'? I plead ignorance.

The wiki acct below speaks of severe injuries... but they seem to have occurred in connection to his plane being shot down and crashing into a lake. There is a reference or two to 'beatings" ( there's two links in the reference section; one doesn't work; one is an article written in 2007.) We see that a "mob" ( presumably civilians, I'd think) beat him Beyond that, what did the beatings consist of , exactly? What was their purpose? ( Later on it's implied that beatings in late '68/69 were designed to get him to sign confessions of guilt; what about the early beatings that took place shortly after capture?)

The second paragraph says the NVNese refused to treat his injuries. Was this the case for other US Pilots shot down? Then they (NVNese changed their minds 'cause he was related to a Navy big shot. Did other POW's confirm that they were NOT given treatment.... since presumably most were NOT relatd to Navy bigshots?


Third paragraph implies that when he was sent finally to a hospital, he was given only, 'marginal' care. But *why*... if he was related to a Navy bigshot?



Then there's the HUGE turnabout between July '68 ( McCain offered release ... for NVN propaganda purposes, the article *speculates*) and only one month later, Aug. '68, when a "program of severe torture" was initiated. Why the sudden about face? And, I'm wondering what type of torture, exactly. Waternboarding? Electroshock? Just 'generic' beatings, the article says. Hmmm.

There are a number of oddities in the account. Anyone know of a *truly* authoritative acct. of McCain's life while in the custody of the Vietnamese?


>>>>>John McCain's capture and imprisonment began on October 26, 1967. He was flying his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam, when his A-4E Skyhawk was shot down by a missile over Hanoi.<36><37><38><39> McCain fractured both arms and a leg,<40> and then nearly drowned when he parachuted into Truc Bach Lake in Hanoi.<36> After he regained consciousness, a mob attacked him,<41> crushed his shoulder with a rifle butt, and bayoneted him; he was then transported to Hanoi's main Hoa Loa Prison, nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton".<41><42>

Although McCain was badly wounded, his captors refused to treat his injuries, instead beating and interrogating him to get information.<41> Only when the North Vietnamese discovered that his father was a top admiral did they give him medical care<41> and announce his capture. His status as a prisoner of war (POW) made the front pages of The New York Times<43> and The Washington Post.<44>

McCain spent six weeks in the Hoa Loa hospital, receiving marginal care.<36> Now having lost 50 pounds (23 kg), in a chest cast, and with his hair turned white,<36> McCain was sent to a different camp on the outskirts of Hanoi<45> in December 1967, into a cell with two other Americans who did not expect him to live a week.<46> In March 1968, McCain was put into solitary confinement, where he would remain for two years.<41>

In July 1968, McCain's father was named commander of all U.S. forces in the Vietnam theater.<2> McCain was immediately offered early release.<36> The North Vietnamese wanted a worldwide propaganda coup by appearing merciful, and also wanted to show other POWs that elites like McCain were willing to be treated preferentially.<41> McCain turned down the offer of repatriation; he would only accept the offer if every man taken in before him was released as well.<47>

In August of 1968, a program of severe torture began on McCain, at the same time as he was suffering from dysentery,<41><36> and McCain made an anti-American propaganda "confession".<36> He has always felt that his statement was dishonorable,<48> but as he would later write, "I had learned what we all learned over there: Every man has his breaking point. I had reached mine."<41> His injuries left him permanently incapable of raising his arms above his head.<49> He subsequently received two to three beatings per week because of his continued refusal to sign additional statements.<50> Other American POWs were similarly tortured and maltreated in order to extract "confessions" and propaganda statements,<41> with many enduring even worse treatment than McCain.<51>

McCain refused to meet with various anti-war groups seeking peace in Hanoi, not wanting to give either them or the North Vietnamese a propaganda victory.<41> From late 1969 on, treatment of McCain and some of the other POWs became more tolerable.<41> McCain and other prisoners cheered the B-52-led U.S. "Christmas Bombing" campaign of December 1972 as a forceful measure to push North Vietnam to terms.<41><52>

Altogether, McCain was held as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years. He was finally released from captivity on March 14, 1973.<53> McCain's return to the United States reunited him with his wife and family. His wife Carol had suffered her own crippling ordeal during his captivity, due to an automobile accident in December 1969.<54> As a returned POW, McCain became a celebrity of sorts.<55><41><54>


Interview with McCain on April 24, 1973, after his return homeMcCain underwent treatment for his injuries, including months of grueling physical therapy,<56> and attended the National War College in Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. during 1973–1974.<54><18> By late 1974 McCain had his flight status reinstated,<54> and in 1976 he became commanding officer of a training squadron stationed in Florida.<54><18><57> He turned around a mediocre unit and won the squadron its first Meritorious Unit Commendation.<56> During this period, the McCains' marriage began to falter;<58> he would later accept blame.<58>>>>>>