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Donald Trump is a pompous ass who, like Dick Cheney, did everything he could to avoid serving in Vietnam. Still, I have to agree with him on one narrow point: John McCain is not a war hero. His class ranking at Annapolis was 894 out of 899. Still, he was admitted to flight training because his father and grandfather were both four star admirals. It took him two and a half years to earn his wings, a process that usually takes less than a year and half.

With regard to his military experience qualifying him for Commander in Chief, he had, at most, 50 hours of combat time before he was shot down. Prior to Vietnam he had crashed two airplanes and run into power lines in a third. A fourth was destroyed in a fire on a carrier. Many Vietnam fliers logged more than 500 hours of combat flight time.  He was awarded a Silver Star, just one step down from a Medal of Honor, a Bronze Star, a Distinguished Flying Cross and a Purple Heart. The admiral who approved those medals was his father, then the Commander in Chief, Pacific.

Unlike WW II, in Vietnam to get shot down you had to be very unlucky or do something really dumb. It doesn’t take a lot of talent to get shot down. The idea is not to be a prisoner and war hero but to complete your tour and keep you and your ship alive to continue the fight.

The only real heroes in that war or any war are those who give their lives when they don't have to. A flier risking his life to save a buddy is a hero. A private falling on a grenade is a hero. A naval officer pulling an enlisted man from an engine room fire is a hero. An audience member in a movie theater putting his body between the shooter and his friend is a hero. I have more than 700 hours of combat flight time, 11 Air Medals and the Distinguished Flying Cross, and I’m not a hero. I was just doing the job I was hired to do, the best way I knew how.

When he was released from prison his Navy jobs did not even include being captain of a Navy ship. He retired as a Captain (the equivalent of full colonel in other Services) with just 22 years of service, mostly as a result of automatic promotions from Lt. Commander (Captain) to Captain (Colonel) while he was a prisoner. Refusing early repatriation because his father was CINCPAC does not make you a war hero. Accepting it would have ended his military career and would have made a political career impossible. Mr. McCain is many things, some of them admirable, like the rest of us. But he’s not a hero, in war or any other way. He has supported sending more of our young men and women to be killed or maimed in two more useless wars and seems eager to send more of them to fight in a third in Iran while he remains in Congress, far from the risks of war, apparently having forgotten how cruel war can be. That's not heroic.

Vietnam Veterans Chapter 1071 meets on the 3rd Saturday of each month at the Elks Lodge #1777, 1455 Newland St, Lakewood, CO at 10 AM. On that Saturday the Elks serve an excellent breakfast starting at 8:00 AM, $6. Our mission: “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.”