Remembering John McCain
U.S. Senator and Decorated Navy Veteran
August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018

September 1, 2018

John McCain III graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1958 and was commissioned into the United States Navy. He became a naval aviator and flew ground-attack aircraft from aircraft carriers.

During the Vietnam War, he was almost killed in the 1967 USS Forrestal fire. While on a bombing mission during Operation Rolling Thunder over Hanoi in October 1967, he was shot down, seriously injured, and captured by the North Vietnamese. He was a prisoner of war until 1973. He experienced episodes of torture and refused an out-of-sequence early repatriation offer. The wounds that he sustained during the war left him with lifelong physical disabilities.

He retired from the Navy as a captain in 1981 and moved to Arizona, where he entered politics. In 1982, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives, where he served two terms. He entered the U.S. Senate in 1987 and easily won reelection five times, the final time in 2016.

John McCain also entered the race for the Republican nomination for president in 2000, losing to Governor George W. Bush of Texas, who then won the Presidential election. John McCain did secure the Republican nomination in 2008, but was defeated by Democratic nominee Barack Obama in the general election

In 2015, he became Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he continued his strong support of the military services, troops, and veterans until brain cancer in 2017 forced him to reduce his role in the Senate to focus on treatment. He remained a U.S. Senator until the brain cancer took him on August 25, 2018 shortly before his 82nd birthday.

Note... John McCain is saluted for his military and elective service to the USA ... not his political positions and actions.

Our Valiant Troops | Americans | We The People | Answering The Call | Veterans | Citizens Like Us | Brave Blue | Our Heroes, America's Best

Honoring The Fallen | Don't Weep For Me | Remember The Fallen | Tears For Your Fallen | Our Wounded

2018 Photos || Photos Index