Reader Responses

How do you think John McCain outwitted and outlasted his captors in the Hanoi Hilton torture chamber for over five years? Training, commitment and perseverance, and the absolute belief and faith in God and one's self. That's the only way.

I was in the southwest Pacific theater of operations in WWII and believe me, I know what it takes to fly down the gun barrels of the enemy at kamikaze, below-treetop-level where you observe your enemy eyeball to eyeball. McCain is a prime example of a modest, true hero. He would deny that, however, but let me emphasize he is just that, a plain and simple American hero.

Those who survived their POW capture and were subsequently released from the Hanoi Hilton and their stories could tell you things that would make you shudder with fear. Unbelievable torture and hardship, mental and physical. My friends and buddies who survived crash landings and who were taken prisoner by the Japanese were decapitated almost without exception - and they had the best deal compared to the years of torture sustained by McCain.

Believe me, McCain is fully fit. He has been through the worse of pain and humiliation and continues to exude a deep sense of commitment. Ask yourself if you think you could have endured what he experienced. I have asked myself and seriously doubt it. Also ask yourself if you would like to be led by such a proven person. Ask yourself if you would be comfortable under the leadership of a stable, experienced, compassionate, honorable and forgiving individual with unquestionable loyalty to his homeland and this nation. Have you got the guts to be truthful?

Peppy Blount
Longview