[LeonardFMason]

I would like to see your proof source that the “overwhelming majority” of POW’s made similar statements.

Several Men were awarded the MOH for actions including/related to their captivity:

Rocky Versace
William Port
Don Cook
Jon Cavaiani
James Stockdale
Leo Thorsness
Lance Sijan
Bud Day

No doubt these were exceptional men.

I agree with you that there is nothing special about John McCain.

[WayneS]

I recommend you take a look at the books When Hell Was in Session, by Jeremiah Denton, and The Hanoi Commitment by James Mulligan. They are two of the earlier memoirs published by former POWs, back before anyone had any axes to grind regarding their own, or someone else's, behavior during captivity. Also, both books were written before John McCain became a congressman in 1983, when most people had never heard of him.

I don't know for sure, but I suspect Admiral Denton was the man who recommended some of the heroes on your list for their Medals of Honor, since he was the commanding officer of the POWs for at least a portion of his captivity.

By the way, I know Jim Stockdale made tapes for the North Vietnamese because he has said so himself. The standard for behavior was that each man must hold out for as long as he possibly could, and then give as little and as useless information as he could get away with. Most of them lived up to that code, but most of them also broke.

I've read When Hell Was in Session a half a dozen times or more and still cannot make it thorough some of the descriptions of the torture to which Adm. Denton was subjected without taking a break from reading to compose myself.

By the way, I met and talked to Jeremiah Denton several times when I was a teenager - before he became a senator form Alabama. He was an impressive man. He died about 4 years ago, and I think it was an absolute crime that Barack Obama did not acknowledge his passing in any way, shape or form. I flew the flags at my house at half-staff for a full week.