…plus the original claim that he was born in a hospital that hadn’t yet been built…
In no way am I arguing with you, but you may have BO confused with McNut.
Folks (not McNut) out there insist McNut was born at Coco Solo Naval Base, Canal Zone, located on the Atlantic side of the isthmus.
If he was born on the Atlantic side, he could not have been born at Coco Solo because Coco Solo Hospital wasn’t built until ‘41-‘42. He was born in ‘36.
This would mean that he was born in Colon Hospital, Republic of Panama, and not the Canal Zone. Colon Hospital is a short distance from Coco Solo.
But a couple of years ago or less, I read here on FR his father was stationed at Quarry Heights, Canal Zone, located on the Pacific side (not Coco Solo). A couple of hundred yards past the front gate was Gorgas Hospital, our civilian hospital located in the Canal Zone. This means he would have been born at Gorgas Hospital, which was the nearest hospital.
Now this brings up another point:
If he was born at Colon Hospital, Panamanian territory, could he have become a naval “officer” at that time of his career?
I know the rules have been relaxed in some of these areas, but they were very strict at that time about officer eligibility.
Will be back in a couple of hours.
Regards.
Me? Confused? I suppose that is theoretically possible...
Sure, you only have to be a citizen, not a natural born citizen. A guy I served with was born in Cuba, not that long after McCain was born in the Canal zone. Difference was he was a Cuban citizen, came to the US, at about 12 or 14, when Castro took over. But he was a US Citizen, and a USAF 1st LT. when we met. Then he became a Captain about the time I became a 1st LT. He retired as a full bird colonel. You could Google his name and get lots of hits. As of 2005 he still worked for the NRO, as a director.