Fellow POW disputes McCain claim- McCOLLABORATOR’S PROPAGANDA for N. VIETNAM (Part One of Two. Click here for Part Two)

The following passage is from a recent article in which McCain’s fellow POW, Edison Miller, defends himself against the senator’s accusations that Miller, a retired Marine colonel who is anti-war, had collaborated with the North Vietnamese while in captivity. Further below are excerpts from declassified Department of Defense documents showing how McCain himself, in more than 20 interviews with his captors, did casually and repeatedly break his solemn vow to “give no information or take part in any action which might be harmful to [his] comrades.”   

“Irvine POW disputes McCain's Vietnam claim,” by Martin Wisckol, Orange County Register, 12 August 2008 

Retired Marine colonel is angered by the presidential candidate's statements that he helped the enemy while the two were in a Vietnamese prison camp.

 Former Orange County supervisor Edison Miller is lashing out at John McCain, saying the presidential candidate falsely fingered him as a turncoat who was "actively aiding the enemy" while the two were imprisoned during the Vietnam War. 

"He lied about me," said the Irvine resident, who retired as a Marine Corps colonel shortly after the war. "The attacks on my character and integrity are totally without merit or justification. I did stand up and say the war was wrong. I would speak against the war, but I never spoke against my country. And I gave up no secrets." 

In McCain's book, "Faith of My Fathers," the Republican presidential candidate writes about two "camp rats" who "had lost their faith completely." 

"They not only stopped resisting but apparently crossed a line no other prisoner I knew had even approached," McCain wrote. "They were collaborators, actively aiding the enemy." 

While McCain did not name the two in the book, Miller and Walter Eugene Wilber are identified as the POWs in question in a June 15 New York Times story on McCain's 1974 essay about POW traitors. Miller said the newspaper story brought McCain's claims to his attention. […]  

The following are my transcriptions excerpting four recently-declassified DoD documents which prove McCain’s own collaboration. The introductions before each passage (in bold text) are from  VietnamVeteransAgainstJohnMcCain.com, and the links are PDF files of the original documents from their site. Notes in italics are mine, and all other notes in parenthesis, etc. appear as per the originals. For the sake of clarity I’ve highlighted interviewers’ questions in bold. 

Cuban Radio, 9 November 1967: This document is a transcript of a Hanoi correspondent broadcast to Cuba quoting newly captured POW John McCain detailing U.S. military information about U.S. bombing operations over North Vietnam. The broadcast was transmitted in English on November 09, 1967 and intercepted by U.S. intelligence 

“My assignment to the Oriskany, I told myself, was due to serious losses in pilots which were sustained by this aircraft carrier due to its raids over North Vietnam territory –VNA)  and which necessitated replacements. From 10 to 12 pilots were transferred like me from the Forrestal to the Oriskany. Before I was shot down we had made several sorties. Altogether I made about 23 flights over North Vietnam.” 

McCain admitted that he participated five or six times in the attacks on the Haiphong sector. 

Fear still clearly showed on his face when he recalled his disasterous sortie on 26 October against Hanoi. “The briefing was held in the morning. That’s right. I remember that it was in the morning that they told me the situation and the plan of the raid, which should take place about noon. A reconnaissance officer explained this plan to me. They showed me photographs of my target and marked out the paths to be followed by the Oriskany at this point. They pointed out to me a number of antiaircraft positions near Hanoi and a number of possible rocket positions, the position of our rescue ships, the radio frequency, the composition of the flight, and so forth. Upon arrival near the target, our formation order: I would be number three, and the chief of the formation, number one. Each pilot would have to approach the target from a different direction. The choice of which would be left to a different direction, the choice of which could be left to [unintelligible] 

“While moving toward the target, we stumbled over a very dense network of fire, a very powerful riposte. A few rockets were seen. Our chief turned to approach the target and I followed him at a distance. At the time when I was preparing to drop my bombs — I did not know whether I could drop them because things were happening too fast — I heard a terrible explosion which shook my plane and sent it toward the group. It was hit so violently that I was thrown on my back and went straight toward the ground in this posture. I tried to pull the direction-stick [section redacted]  

Naturally I felt buffetting because my bailing out was made at the time when the plane was falling too fast. When the parachute opened I looked down and found out that I was going to fall into a lake. I was really lucky to be able to fall into a lake. All around me bombs were exploding while rockets and antiaircraft shells were streaking through the sky. I hit the lake and went to the bottom. While trying to return to the surface, I was seized by Vietnamese and pushed to the bank of the lake. They disarmed me and brought me to prison.” 

“What do you think of Hanoi’s Fire Barrage?” Asked the Nhan Dan correspondent. 

“Very intense, very accurate. When a fire barrage is so accurate, one has to reckon with it. You are excellent artillerymen. Naturally, I have never seen such a fire network because it was the first time that I flew over Hanoi.” 

“Were all the pilots who had flown over Hanoi afraid of the firepower from the ground?” 

“Yes, Certainly! How lucky are those who do not have to come often to the Hanoi sector. Very dangerous! Because they could very well be shot down, hit, something that no one wants! When I arrived near my target I saw two rockets streaking by my side, and it was terrible to see. They flew very fast, very strongly.” 

Suddenly the air pirate was silent as if still obsessed by the memory of his disasterous sorite. 

“For me, there is no longer any doubt. Things are taking place in a favorable opinion. The United States at present seems to be standing alone, so much is its isolation.”  

French Reporter Francois Chalais, January 1968 This document is a transcript of an "exclusive" interview of newly captured POW John McCain by "prominent" French television reporter Francois Chalais - January 1968. The interview was broadcast in French to Europe. 

[There’s a note next to the routing info atop this message, hand-written by someone in DoD, reading: “MCCAIN SANG TO FRENCH, ALSO”] 

My meeting with John Sidney McCain was certainly one of those meetings which will affect me most profoundly for the rest of my life. I had asked the North Vietnamese authorities to allow me to personally interrogate an American prisoner. They authorized me to do so. When night fell, they took me — without precautions or mystery — to a hospital near the Gia Lam Airport reserved for the military. (Passage Omitted) The officer who receives me begins: I ask you not to ask any questions of political nature. If this man replies in a way unfavorable to us, they will not hesitate to speak of “brainwashing” and conclude that we threatened him. (Passage Omitted) 

This John Sidney McCain McCain is not an ordinary prisoner. His father is none other than Admiral Edmond John McCain, Commander in Chief of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe (Passage Omitted) 

In a weak voice, he relates his story to me: I was carrying out a bombing mission, my twenty-third raid, over Hanoi. It was then that I was hit. I wanted to eject but while doing so I broke both my arms and my right thigh. Unconscious, I fell in a lake, some Vietnamese jumped into the water and pulled me out. Later I learned there must have been about 12 of them. They immediately took me to the hospital, in a condition two inches away from death. A doctor operated on my thigh. Others at the same time dealt with my arms.

 How are you treated here? 

Very well. Everybody is very nice to me. 

How is the food? 

He smiles feebly. Obviously, the least reaction hurts him. [McCain’s response:] This isn’t Paris, but it is alright.

 Do you have something to read?

They have suggested that I read, but my hands are unable to hold even a newspaper. 

His cigarette has gone out. He talks to me about his wife who lives in Jacksonville, Florida, and about his three children. And now he addresses his family: I know that this is going to turn out well. I hope that I will see you soon. […]  

Broadcast to South Vietnam, 2 June 1969 Transcript of John McCain's June 2, 1969 radio broadcast beamed into South Vietnam in response to Defense Secretary Melvin S. Laird’s [19 May 1969] plea that North Vietnam treat U.S. prisoners according to the humanitarian standards set forth by the Geneva Convention. 

At his 19 rpt 19 May press conference in Washington, US Defense Secretary Melvin Laird distorted the truth about the policy of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam government towards captured U.S. pilots in North Vietnam. Those very captive airmen have long since given the lie to Laird’s allegations. Here is one of them, LCMDR John Sidney McCain, service number 624787 rpt 624787, USS Oriskany, speaking of the treatment he has been receiving. (Male voice with an American accent) 

“I was a U.S. airman engaged in the crimes against the Vietnamese country and people. I had bombed their cities, towns, and villages and caused more injury even death for the people of Vietnam. After I was captured I was taken from a hospital in (?Da Nang) where I received very good medical treatment. I was given an operation on my leg, which allowed me to walk again, and a cast for my right arm which was badly broken in three rpt three places. The doctors were very good and they knew a great deal about the practice of medicine. I remained in the hospital for some time, I regained much of my health and strength.”  

Dr. Fernando Barral for Cuban media, 24 January 1970 This document is a transcript of an "exclusive" interview of POW John McCain by Spanish psychiatrist Dr. Fernando Barral. The meeting between Barral and POW McCain [was conducted] away from the POW camp in an office of the Committee for Foreign Cultural Relations in Hanoi. The interview was published January 24, 1970 in Havana, Cuba.

[There’s a note next to the routing info atop this message, hand-written by someone in DoD, reading: “McCAIN TELLS IT IN SPANISH”]  

The pilot interviewed is John Sidney McCain, son and grandson of American Navy Admirals. His father, as the Yankee prisoner declared, is higher ranking than General Abrams, who commands the Yankee aggressor troops in South Vietnam; despite this, Johnson gave orders directly to Abrams, passing over McCain’s father, who has a long history of services of aggression in Korea, among other imperialist merits. As is seen, Lt Commander John Sidney has a very good name…. Following are the notes from Dr. Barral’s interview with the Yankee Pilot: 

Could you tell me your name, serial number, and rank? 

“My name is John Sidney McCain and I am a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy — serial No 624787. I understand and speak some Spanish. I studied it in school and I have been in Spain several times. On one of those occasions I visited the Navy Academy and met Prince Carlos….” 

In the course of the interview, on various occasions he showed that knowledge of the language, saying some words, dates, and so forth in Spanish, or (using it) when he thought the interpreter was seeking the corresponding French word. Naturally, from the very beginning this established a more direct communication between us, and more than one question or my response was made directly in Spanish. 

Immediately afterward, I asked him about the date and circumstances of his capture. 

“On 26 October 1967  I was overflying Hanoi in an A4E plane based on the carrier Oriskany when my plane was hit by a ground-to-air missile. I bailed out, colliding in the air with the remains of the plane, and I landed in one of the lakes in the center of Hanoi, in the middle of the water. On landing I tried to get free of my parachute, but could not move, and did not realize why I could not move my arms or legs, but it was because of the injuries.” 

 [Continued here]