If there is one word we can always associate with John McCain it is forgiveness.
As part of the Rolling Thunder air campaign in 1967, his plane was shot down over Hanoi and he was taken prisoner.
For over five years he was tortured, brutalized, and kept in a tiny dirty cell. He would not be released until 1973.
Much has been written about McCain’s POW experience, but few have appreciated what happened after McCain came home.
“I had a lot of time meeting him when he was kept in the prison,” said Colonel Trần Trọng Duyệt who ran Hỏa Lò Prison. “At that time I liked him personally for his toughness and strong stance.”
Colonel Trần Trọng Duyệt told Vietnam News today that he was saddened to hear of McCain’s death.
“When he became a US Senator, he and Senator John Kerry greatly contributed to promote Vietnam-US relations so I was very fond of him,” he said. “When I learned about his death early this morning, I felt very sad. I would like to send condolences to his family. I think it’s the same feeling for all Vietnamese people as he has greatly contributed to the development of Vietnam – US relations.”
McCain could have returned to America a very bitter man. After the conditions he had endured, no one would have blamed him.
Instead, proving that time can heal deep wounds, McCain promoted humanitarian issues for Vietnam like:
- Removing unexploded devices left by the war.
- Searching for missing-in-action personnel.
- Supporting people with disabilities caused by the war.
- Detoxifying areas polluted by dioxin.
- Ending economic sanctions.
- Normalized US-Vietnam relations.
In 1994, McCain called for the end of economic sanctions against Vietnam, which thanks to his support, happened. The Vietnamese people greeted him warmly when he visited several times.
John McCain could be a tough, sometimes unreasonable, and stubborn politician. But if you want a life lesson on how to heal, move on, appreciate every new day of life, and how to give complete and unconditional forgiveness, McCain’s Vietnam experience is a good place to start.