Heather E. Schwartz - John McCain: The Courage of Conviction

John McCain

Heather E. Schwartz

Lerner Publications Minneapolis

John McCain

The Courage of Conviction

Copyright 2019 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

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Image credits: John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe/Getty Images, p. 2; Thomas J. OHalloran/ Library of Congress, pp. 6, 8; Terry Ashe/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images, p. 9; Seth Poppel Yearbook Library, pp. 10, 11, 12; Bettmann/Getty Images, p. 14; Corbis Historical/Getty Images, p. 16; AP Photo/Horst Faas, p. 19; CRANDALL/SIPA/Newscom, p. 21; Warren K. Leffler/ Library of Congress (LC-DIG-ppmsca-03128), p. 22; Dick Swanson/The LIFE Images Collection/ Getty Images, p. 23; lauradyoung/E+/Getty Images, p. (Silver Star) (Bronze Star); DNY59/E+/ Getty Images, p. (Purple Heart); PeteHoffmanMN/iStock/Getty Images, p. (Distinguished Flying Cross); Susan Biddle/The Denver Post/Getty Images, p. 27; The Washington Times/ ZUMAPRESS/Newscom, p. 28; AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, p. 29; Karin Cooper/Hulton Archive/ Getty Images, p. 30; HENNY RAY ABRAMS/AFP/Getty Images, p. 31; Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images, p. 32; STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images, p. 34; Chris Oberholtz/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service/Getty Images, p. 35; Everett Collection/Shutterstock.com, p. 36; Brooks Kraft/Corbis Historical/Getty Images, p. 37; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, p. 39; Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post/Getty Images, p.

Cover: Joshua Lott/Getty Images.

Main body text set in Rotis Serif Std Regular 13.5/17. Typeface provided by Adobe Systems.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Schwartz, Heather E., author.

Title: John McCain : the courage of conviction / Heather E. Schwartz.

Description: Minneapolis : Lerner Publications, [2019] | Series: Gateway biographies | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Audience: Grades | Audience: Ages

Identifiers: LCCN 2018006098 (print) | LCCN 2018004066 (ebook) | ISBN 9781541538405 (eb pdf) | ISBN 9781541538399 (library binding : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: McCain, John, 1936 Juvenile literature. | LegislatorsUnited States BiographyJuvenile literature. | United States. Congress. SenateBiographyJuvenile literature. | Presidential candidatesUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature. | Prisoners of warVietnamBiographyJuvenile literature.

Classification: LCC E840.8.M26 (print) | LCC E840.8.M26 S35 2019 (ebook) | DDC 328.73/092 [B]dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018006098

Manufactured in the United States of America

- 45030 - 35857 - 8/27/2018

C ontents

John McCain speaks about his experience in Vietnam in this 1973 photo.

C aptured by the enemy, US Navy lieutenant commander John McCain had been starved and beaten in a Vietnamese prison camp. Hed had injuries treated without anesthesia. Hed been held in solitary confinement and was terribly ill.

Now he sat listening to a high-ranking official in charge of the prison camps who talked for hours about other camps hed run and other prisoners hed released. McCain had been through interrogations before, but suddenly this one took an unexpected turn. The Vietnamese official asked him a question: Do you want to go home?

This question was anything but typical. No one with whom McCain was serving had been offered such a thing. McCain knew that hed been singled out. And of course, he wanted to go home. Yet the simple question didnt have an easy answer.

I went back to my room, and I thought about it for a long time.... I was worried whether I could stay alive or not, because I was in rather bad condition. I had been hit

with a severe case of dysentery, which kept on for about a year and a half, he said. But I knew that the Code of Conduct says, You will not accept parole or amnesty, and that you will not accept special favors. For somebody to go home earlier is a special favor. Theres no other way you can cut it.

His mind was made up. He wouldnt accept special treatment and leave his fellow American prisoners behind. He turned down the offer, and for the next several days, the official tried to convince him to take it. He showed McCain a letter from his wife. He told him President Lyndon Johnson had ordered him home. He told him

A young McCain solemnly reflects on his military service, including his time spent as a prisoner of war.

he would die without medical care in the United States. Still, McCain wouldnt change his answer. He knew the meaning of honor and duty. He knew what he had to do to serve his country well. He had to stay in Vietnam.

The years that followed would shape the rest of McCains lifeas a man, a politician, and a leader.

The Making of a Military Man

When John Sidney McCain III was born on August 29, 1936, he seemed destined for a military career. His grandfather and father were both navy admirals, the first father and son to achieve this high rank in the US Navy. John was even born at a navy base, Coco Solo Naval Air Station, in Panama.

John ( cente r ) poses between his grandfather ( lef t ) and father ( righ t ) in a 1940s family photo.

Growing up in a military family, John moved around quite a bit with his father, John McCain Jr.; mother, Roberta; and siblings, Sandy and Joe. The family lived in the United States and abroad. They settled in northern Virginia in 1951, and John attended Episcopal High School, a nearby boarding school for boys.