McCain and the Navy

[Bill Greenwood]

Something I recently heard from a long time career Navy man. "The Navy guys don't like McCain that much". It made me wonder? Anybody else heard of this or have an explanation? I only overheard the conversation, I didn't get the whole thing or any further details. However, I do know the speaker is pro military and a conservative, so it seems McCain would be a favored guy.

[muddyboots]

Hiya Bill!

What I have heard is that he is a Navy Blueblood whose intranisgence in Hanoi might have caused the deaths of some other prisoners. I've also heard he was a flaming asshole and that other prisoners didn't like him, and that he was a terrible pilot who shouldn't have been at the stick. I don't know if any of that is true, but he definitekly was a bad apple at the Academy- that is on record.

Again, I'm not trying to stir anyhing, just repeating what I have heard.

[Matt Gunsch]

I have heard simular things from one POW I met. Also mccain is no conservative, he is no friend of aviation or gun owners.

[tom d. friedman]

i read his book, & thought it was quite inspirational. years in solitary, had the living crap beat out of him, then he was allowed the unprecedented offer to go home because his old man was commander in chief of the pacific area as a 4 star admiral, & he screwed up a north vietnam plot for a public relations plum by refusing to leave & chose to stay with his comrades / men. granted he wasn't a stellar student at the academy, but he eventually made the grade. as to being an a-hole.... it was his job to be an officer 1st & friend 2nd. vote for who you want, but i suggest his book to all, as he has integrity.

[Matt Gunsch]

As far as I know, all the POWs in the POW camp with him were officers. I have delt with mccain, and he is a ass, and the last person I want in control of the country. He and his wife both think that thier sh*t don't stink. If you debate him and back him into a corner he will launch into personal attacks, even if he does not know you. The best thing that he could do if he wins is to copy William Henry Harrison.

[Broken-Wrench]

[quote="muddyboots"]Hiya Bill!

What I have heard is that he is a Navy Blueblood whose intranisgence in Hanoi might have caused the deaths of some other prisoners. I've also heard he was a flaming asshole and that other prisoners didn't like him, and that he was a terrible pilot who shouldn't have been at the stick. I don't know if any of that is true, but he definitekly was a bad apple at the Academy- that is on record.

Again, I'm not trying to stir anyhing, just repeating what I have heard.[/quote]

That's what I've been hearing also.. We as a country can't aford any more blue bloods. I did like Hillary. I met her at a fund raiser at Martha's Vineyard. Bill and Hillary are really nice people.

[Junkyard36]

and that he was a terrible pilot who shouldn't have been at the stick.

You are absolutely right - he put a plane into Corpus Christi Bay during flight training and somehow still managed to graduate as a pilot.

One wonders just how much pull his family connections had in getting the Navy to graduate him from flight school.

Mike

[Broken-Wrench]

We already have one bad aviator in office! Now McCain...............Wait I see a trend

[Misterg97]

I'm sure there are others on this forum, who like I have been drafted and worn the uniform of our country in a foreign land. However, I have also while living in NJ, took the Path train into New York and home every day below the World Train Center and watched it being built from my window at 120 Broadway from beginning to completion.

Well this veteran, having seen the photo of the great "Obama" during a Pledge of Allegiance to the flag I have served ... along with his attempt to downplay his background ... takes some offense to the McCain bashing ...

And I take pride in wearing an American Flag lapel pin on my jacket ...

My two cents ...

[b29flteng]

Misterg97, They're just trying to justify themselves for not voting Republican.

[mlenoch]

For the sake of accuracy, check 'Snopes' regarding the Obama flag incident.
For the sake of the country, your opnions are highly valued.
VL

[Bill Greenwood]

Jerry, my question on this topic was about the view of McCain that I have heard from Navy vet. I don't see that Obama has anything to do with this topic or the Navy, although I admit I don't know about any pledge of allegiance you are referring to. I don't this has anything to do with McCain as a Navy man.
I have read McCain was not an ideal student at Annapolis, but after all the school tries to hassle freshmen, maybe he just stood up for himself. It doesn't seem that would affect how other Navy people view him. Perhaps Muddyboots had a clue, that McCain's hard line as a POW made it harder on other POWs. I never read he was a bad pilot, I am sure others have had a emergency in flight training, I don't know the details. He does have a DFC medal. Matt, I don't think McCains views on guns or aviation was what the Navy guy was referring to.

Last edited by Bill Greenwood on Sun Mar 16, 2008 10:50 am, edited 2 times in total.

[Bill Greenwood]

Tom, How would it have been a "PLUM "for the N Vietnamese to release McCain? He could have come home and reported the mistreatment of our POWs, and really called attention to it. Maybe that would have done some good. It is known that POWs were not always treated as badly or the same each year. From what I have read it varied quite a bit, and the focus of world opinion on the NV may have been the factor. If I recall, treatment of POWs was horrible in the early years of the war, and improved after 69.
I know a vet who said McCain was right to refuse to be freed out of turn, but in any event he really was not in control and the NVA could have turned him over to the Allies if they really wanted.

Last edited by Bill Greenwood on Sun Mar 16, 2008 9:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[tom d. friedman]

bill, the word "plum" that i used represents that if he relented & chose to go home when the rest of the pows didn't have the opportunity would have been a public relations / propaganda victory for the north vietnamese. if he would have taken advantage the circumstance they would have cranked out propaganda that the soft admirals son was accorded special consideration.

[muddyboots]

I'm sure there are others on this forum, who like I have been drafted and worn the uniform of our country in a foreign land. However, I have also while living in NJ, took the Path train into New York and home every day below the World Train Center and watched it being built from my window at 120 Broadway from beginning to completion.

Well this veteran, having seen the photo of the great "Obama" during a Pledge of Allegiance to the flag I have served ... along with his attempt to downplay his background ... takes some offense to the McCain bashing ...

And I take pride in wearing an American Flag lapel pin on my jacket ...

My two cents ...

That was an interesting aside about the WTC. Did you see the neighborhood taht was torn down to make space for it? I always wondered what was tehre before hand.

And yes, you're right. May of us are veterans. I wasn't drafted. I raised my hand all own my own. I intended to make it a career, as did my father, and his, and his, all the way back to the revolution. I had a ancester who was wearing red at the Boston Massacre, and I had relatives who fought with Nathaniel Green.

THIS veteran believes that neither Obama nor MCCain are angels. But I am NOT voting for the guy who has stated that he wants to enlarge this war when we don't have enough resources to deal with what we have on our hands already. Hitler made a simliar mistake, and it destroyed his country. Bush has ALREADY made that mistake, and now McCain wants to enlarge upon it. I have had enough of republicans, blue bloods, and idiots who don't mind taking advantage of my pride in that little flag pin, thank you very much. I dunno if I WANT to vote for Obama or Hillary, but they're better than the alternative. IMHO.