The Broken Soldier

There was a time (a time I call “college”) when I had real passion for politics and political philosophy. Not so much anymore. I find politics in theory fascinating, but politics in practice repellant. The former has a lot of good foundational bits to chew on, but the latter seems to offer little more than ad hominems and easily digested and regurgitated bumper sticker rhetoric. This site really isn’t supposed to be devoted to subjects other than my fight with the Army and the MIARNG for medical care and other entitlements, but the following post on Mitt Romney’s site so disgusted me, I couldn’t resist getting involved. Please find the original post and my response to it below.

“Author: Jack McDermott
Comment:
To: Rush Limbaugh
Subject: McCain - American War Hero - Continued
Dear Rush:

In my previous email to you, on the point

The primary official reason for McCain’s lofty American War Hero status was that he refused release from North Vietnamese captivity because he wouldn’t abandon his comrades still in captivity, and

The New Hampshire Union Leader wrote, “Sen. McCain is much more than just a war hero who chose to endure years of abuse at the hands of a sadistic enemy rather than abandon his comrades.”

The following should be included

“A September 13, 1968, cable from Averell Harriman, U.S. ambassador-at-large, to the State Department confirmed that McCain’s captors had offered him early release, but that he had refused. The cable reported that, according to the Vietnamese, “Commander McCain feared that if he was released before the war is over, President [Lyndon] Johnson might ’cause difficulties’ for his father because people will wonder if McCain had been brainwashed.” Harriman speculated that instead, McCain was abiding by the Code of Conduct.”– The Phoenix New Times March 25, 1999

The above seems to imply that McCain was worried more about himself and his family than his comrades.

U.S. Veterans Dispatch, “John McCain was a survivor not a “hero POW”. For years McCain has successfully cultivated a false facade as the “straight-talking” politician unsullied by big-money influence of special-interest groups. He has shrewdly manipulated most of the national press corps into ignoring (or forgiving) facts that expose him as a disreputable character and enemy of the truth.””

Mr. McDermott,

Regardless of Senator McCain’s political decisions, the ‘facades’ he and his handlers and his special interest influencers create, or the motivation behind his decision to stay in the “Hanoi Hilton,” he chose to stay. Speculation and implication and opinion do not and cannot undo this incontrovertible fact. Whether enduring imprisonment and torture makes one a “hero POW” I can’t say. I’m not sure what that means. But I do know throwing mud on Senator McCain, a man who has sacrificed so much in service of his country, especially in this manner, is ill-advised politically, and, as an AF vet and current injured/disabled soldier, nauseating to me personally. Can’t we just argue the issues and let the people decide? Is nothing sacred?