Monday July 7, 2008, 8:11 pm
Regardless of all the obvious signs pointing to McCain's PTSD, the one outstanding fact is that McCain, by his own admission, broke under the stress of captivity and tried to kill himself.

I wonder what other 'dormant' mental health issues have yet to surface? At least with George W. Bush we knew all of his issues.....they were not hidden like a crouching tiger....

Monday July 7, 2008, 8:45 pm
This is not good.

Monday July 7, 2008, 8:46 pm
Lol, echo! So, its not a good sign for our country to have this guy(puppet, yes-boy, anything for a pat on the back and bisquit guy)TRY to lead us(a contradiction in terms, lol).McSame is a product of our apathy and malnourishment unfortunately. If you have truly lived the life we have given ourselves thru their deception and utter hate and callousness, suicide should have popped up for a sec at one time or another if we are honest with ourselves(a nice change). This is the first human thing ive heard about this guy, although i would rather watch reruns of dukes of hazzards for the rest of my life then betray my country and vote for this selfish war-mongering puppet. thanks my new friend!

Tuesday July 8, 2008, 12:32 am
McCain lost five U.S. Navy aircraft

Navy pilot John Sidney McCain III should have never been allowed to graduate from the U.S. Navy flight school. He was a below average student and a lousy pilot. Had his father and grandfather not been famous four star U.S. Navy admirals, McCain III would have never been allowed in the cockpit of a military aircraft.

His father John S. "Junior" McCain was commander of U.S. forces in Europe later becoming commander of American forces in Vietnam while McCain III was being held prisoner of war. McCain III's grandfather John S. McCain, Sr. commanded naval aviation at the Battle of Okinawa in 1945.

During his relative short stunt on flight status, McCain III lost five U.S. Navy aircraft, four in accidents and one in combat.

Robert Timberg, author of The Nightingale's Song, a book about Annapolis graduates and their tours in Vietnam, wrote that McCain "learned to fly at Pensacola, though his performance was below par, at best good enough to get by. He liked flying, but didn't love it."

McCain III lost jet number one in 1958 when he plunged into Corpus Christi Bay while practicing landings. He was knocked unconscious by the impact coming to as the plane settled to the bottom.

McCain's second crash occurred while he was deployed in the Mediterranean. "Flying too low over the Iberian Peninsula," Timberg wrote, "he took out some power lines [reminiscent of the 1998 incident in which a Marine Corps jet sliced through the cables of a gondola at an Italian ski resort, killing 20] which led to a spate of newspaper stories in which he was predictably identified as the son of an admiral."

McCain's third crash three occurred when he was returning from flying a Navy trainer solo to Philadelphia for an Army-Navy football game.

Timberg reported that McCain radioed, "I've got a flameout" and went through standard relight procedures three times before ejecting at one thousand feet. McCain landed on a deserted beach moments before the plane slammed into a clump of trees.

McCain's fourth aircraft loss occurred July 29, 1967, soon after he was assigned to the USS Forrestal as an A-4 Skyhawk pilot. While seated in the cockpit of his aircraft waiting his turn for takeoff, an accidently fired rocket slammed into McCain's plane. He escaped from the burning aircraft, but the explosions that followed killed 134 sailors, destroyed at least 20 aircraft, and threatened to sink the ship.

McCain's fifth loss happened during his 23rd mission over North Vietnam on Oct. 26, 1967, when McCain's A-4 Skyhawk was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. McCain ejected from the plane breaking both arms and a leg in the process and subsequently parachuted into Truc Bach Lake near Hanoi.

After being drug from the lake, a mob gathered around McCain, spit on him, kicked him and stripped him of his clothing. He was bayoneted in his left foot and his shoulder crushed by a rifle butt. He was then transported to the Hoa Lo Prison, also known as the Hanoi Hilton.

After being periodically slapped around for "three or four days" by his captors who wanted military information, McCain called for an officer on his fourth day of captivity. He told the officer, "O.K., I'll give you military information if you will take me to the hospital." -U.S. News and World Report, May 14, 1973 article written by former POW John McCain

"Demands for military information were accompanied by threats to terminate my medical treatment if I [McCain] did not cooperate. Eventually, I gave them my ship's name and squadron number, and confirmed that my target had been the power plant." Page 193-194, Faith of My Fathers by John McCain.

When the communist learned that McCain's father was Admiral John S. McCain, Jr., the soon-to-be commander of all U.S. Forces in the Pacific, he was rushed to Gai Lam military hospital (U.S. government documents), a medical facility normally unavailable for U.S. POWs.

The communist Vietnamese figured, because POW McCain's father was of such high military rank, that he was of royalty or the governing circle. Thereafter the communist bragged that they had captured "the crown prince."

For 23 combat missions (an estimated 20 hours over enemy territory), the U.S. Navy awarded McCain a Silver Star, a Legion of Merit for Valor, a Distinguished Flying Cross, three Bronze Stars, two Commendation medals plus two Purple Hearts and a dozen service medals.

"McCain had roughly 20 hours in combat," explains Bill Bell, a veteran of Vietnam and former chief of the U.S. Office for POW/MIA Affairs -- the first official U.S. representative in Vietnam since the 1973 fall of Saigon. "Since McCain got 28 medals," Bell continues, "that equals out to about a medal-and-a-half for each hour he spent in combat. There were infantry guys -- grunts on the ground -- who had more than 7,000 hours in combat and I can tell you that there were times and situations where I'm sure a prison cell would have looked pretty good to them by comparison. The question really is how many guys got that number of medals for not being shot down."

For years, McCain has been an unchecked master at manipulating an overly friendly and biased news media. The former POW turned Congressman, turned U.S. Senator, has managed to gloss over his failures as a pilot and collaborations with the enemy by exaggerating his military service and lying about his feats of heroism.

McCain has sprouted a halo and wings to become America's POW-hero presidential candidate.

Tuesday July 8, 2008, 1:28 am
Unfortunately for McCain, the baggage that accompanies understanding "the deepest level" of torture and especially "attempted suicide" is the psychological trauma known as PTSD.

Tuesday July 8, 2008, 3:27 am
...and the stigma assigned to (and prejudice against) those who have suffered mental illness is still alive and well- even in the self-proclaimed "enlightened" of an activist site. I guess a man only gets compassion if he's A. Running for President with the political party of personal preference, or B. Not running for President at all. If McCain were just some guy, you know Care2 members would be all over signing petitions to get him all the help he needs. What hypocrisy!

Consider for a moment that, were he to become President, McCain would then be the least likely sufferer of PTSD to suffer a breakdown. He'd have a huge salary, with all his needs met (excellent nutrition/health care), around-the-clock protection (and insulation) from his detractors, plenty of rest/relaxation time on tap, etc. He'd basically be babysat for four years by a team of trained professionals.

There's a HUGE difference between being in a bamboo cage in Vietnam and being in a room with an Vietnamese head of state.

It doesn't seem all that bad, having a guy in office who has that kind of support.

None of this, of course, has anything to do with character, or "deserving" the office. Politicians - all politicians - are scumbags. It comes with the choice of vocation. You have to learn to lie, cheat, and steal with one hand in order to get ahead, and then cover it all up with the other, all the while mugging for the cameras. There is no "better" political party; they're all the same. It's rich vs poor, not Republican vs Democrat. What this country needs (but will never elect) is a statesman. A statesman will never be elected because he tells the truth - the truth that we don't want to hear - unapologetically. He'd upset the rich and the poor, the male and the female, the black and the white, the old and the young, the foreign and the domestic. So, we get what we pay for - we get politicians, who tell us what we want to hear, because nobody wants to hear anything else. Elections are all about choosing the least horrid of the scumbags.

Tuesday July 8, 2008, 12:44 pm
McCain was a spoiled brat, like Bu$h - he did serve in Vietnam, unlike Bu$h. But whether or not his unstable temperment is PTSD related, he's NOT "safe" for America!
Eagleton had to refuse the VP slot back in '68 because he was treated for depression after his child died. Bu$h $r. was on Prozac, but that was down-played.. So I think the Media should NOT give McCain preferrential treatment, but it Already does & that won't change.

Tuesday July 8, 2008, 4:00 pm
As a victim myself of PTSD from a sexual assault that almost killed me in 1978, after years and years of treatment on a regular basis, I tried to commit suicide several times in the early years, but now I just live with the flash back and nightmares. I cannot even imagine what Sen McCain went through. When the Cong found ought he was an Admiral's son, they offered him the chance to go home right then,but he turned them down and said he would not ever leave the "Hilton" until everyone of the men could go. So his torture increased many times over. Who wouldn't have PTSD?

Tuesday July 8, 2008, 8:30 pm
The U.S. Army logs more suicides and suicide attempts than ever before, as troops face increased demands for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and longer deployments.

http://www.care2.com/news/member/138190545/794281

Thursday July 10, 2008, 12:15 am
PLEASE, get this info into the "main" media somehow!!!!!

Friday July 11, 2008, 1:48 pm
Great Idea, Kathleen except Mass Media is now controlled and I doubt whether they would even touch this story. It is scary that a man running for president with the possibility of being elected has a hair trigger temper.Lord knows what he would do if provoked. Wipe us all out? Sheeesh, the more you know, the more you worry.

Wednesday July 30, 2008, 12:11 pm
McCain lost two A-4 Skyhawk jet fighter bombers. One was destroyed during the USS Foreststal Fire in July 1967. His second Skyhawk was shot down over North Vietnam in October of the same year (1967).