John McCain rarely speaks about his experiences as a POW in Vietnam, but one of his cell mates at the Hanoi Hilton on Thursday described some of the conditions and character traits that earned McCain the commendations he received for his war service.
Col. George ??Bud? Day, 83, is the most decorated service man since Gen. Douglas MacArthur, with more than 70 medals. A living legend, Day was blown out of the sky two months to the day before the North Vietnamese shot down a propaganda prize, whose father and grandfather were renowned American admirals.
??They told me we were gonna get a roommate and it was gonna be the prince. The Vietnamese called him the prince so I asked my nurse what was his name? They said John McCain,? Day told FOX News.
Both he and McCain were taken captive in 1967, and held until their release in 1973.
Day said the first time he saw McCain, he believed the future senator was close to death and that the only reason for the chance encounter was part of a Vietnamese ploy to break the morale of U.S. servicemen already in captivity.
??I took one look at him, and my brain instantly said, ??They dropped this guy off on me to claim that we let him die,??? Day said. ??He was just emaciated. Very, very skinny, in this full body cast. Just filthy.?
The U.S. soldiers were held sometimes five to a cell, barely big enough for two.
??He had this gimpy knee where he??d busted his knee, this arm had been fractured in a couple places, he??d been bayoneted in the leg, this arm was out at the shoulder and, in fact, during that time it was out at the shoulder so long it wore a hole in this bone,? Day said.
During captivity, they were tortured mercilessly, Day said, describing one tactic that McCain has also recalled.
??They roped me under the arms, tied my hands behind my back, ran another rope to that, got me up on a chair, threw that rope up over a rafter and jerked the chair out from under me and your own weight just tears your body apart,? he said.
Day??s broken arm was re-broken during torture so he would never fly again. McCain played physical therapist.
??John said, ??Well we??ll gather up some bamboo, and he was in a bandage on his leg at that time. So I got some strips of bamboo, smuggled them into the room, John put his foot in my arm pit and pulled on my wrist ??till we could get the bone forced back down ? it wasn??t exactly perfect but it worked out he got it back to where it was functional,? Day said.
But nerve damage was extensive ?? his crushed hands were useless. Meanwhile, McCain was treated no better than the trash they were fed in the form of a soup.
??I mean you could smell him for 25 feet. Bunch of food and nasty stuff in his hair, and down his neck and inside his cast. The cast was not lined so every time he would move inside this cast, it was just eating a hole in his arm or his elbow or someplace, and he was just in ?? he was in pain,? Day recalled.
Yet McCain, now 71, made efforts to help Day recover from his own injuries, Day said.
Day said he had limited use of his arms, which was a result of a combination of torture and the initial plane crash that put him in the hands of his captors ?? an ordeal that earned Day the Congressional Medal of Honor.
??And when I finally did regain use of that, it was after months and months of dragging this hand and finger on the wall of the prison cell,? Day said, walking his fingers up the air like he did many years ago.
??John would help me. ? John would pull my fingers out straight. They would just instantly recurl. And finally, one morning, I had just the slightest bit of movement in this hand ?? finger ?? and we both cried,? Day said.
McCain, whose military record was released to the Associated Press on Wednesday, received 17 commendations over his career from 1951-81. They included the Silver Star for his conduct in captivity. He also received the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross and a Bronze Star.
Day said by any humane standard, McCain would have been a good candidate for early release from the camp, but that wasn??t in his playbook.
??It also wasn??t in his playbook to die. In fact he quickly became a leader.?
Day said he asked McCain if he would be one of his preachers.
??He said sure. He had a great handle on the Episcopalian liturgy, he could just repeat it verbatim,? he said.
But repeating what he went through during his incarceration is something McCain almost never does as a presidential candidate. Day said he thinks he should.
??I??ve never seen any shortcomings or any shortfall out of him talking about that, but he just doesn??t trade on that. I think he feels that it??s wrong to trade on being a hero, but he is,? Day said.
McCain??s Former Hanoi Cell Mate Describes Character in Deplorable Conditions - America??s Election HQ
Part of being president is being able to handle high pressure situations.....I think this dude has proven that way beyond his opponents.
Have a good one!:s4:
