My Thanks To John McCain

John McCain American Hero

John McCain POW

Last year when the announcement was made that John McCain had brain cancer, I knew his days were numbered.  My favorite person in the entire world died of brain cancer, and the illness devastated his mind and body.  In six months, he was gone.

I have marveled at Senator McCain's ability to carry on for the past year.  I couldn't understand how he was able to function.  The only telltale sign to me was that we saw less and less of him publicly.  Last week the announcement was made regarding his decision to not undergo further treatment; I knew he would be leaving soon.  The very next evening, his death was announced on television.  I was stunned and sad.  Tears fell from my eyes.  I never met him, but at that moment, I was transported back to my experience with my uncle and my son.  I knew he must have been suffering and fading away for a while, but his family protected his privacy.  He was not the kind of man who would want people to be concerned about him.  He stayed sharp until the end.  It made me sad because he did not know the impact his death would have on people.  Good and bad.

I am ashamed of Trump. I am ashamed of the GOP for not honoring this man as they should.  He was not just a senator; he was a man, he was an American hero, and they have tried to besmirch his name anyway that they can.  When is it ethical or acceptable to try and besmirch a man's life and character upon his death?  What the hell is the matter with people?  Not people, animals.  Low life, void of integrity, and empathy Trump Zombies.  And the tone for trying to dirty his name was set by a childish, vindictive, demented joke of a president named Trump.  I am disgusted with a third of our country and all of the GOP.

I am not a Republican; I seldom agreed with John McCain's political stance.  I thought he could have done a lot more for veterans during his career.  He didn't.  But this man was a pilot during the Vietnam war who was shot down while delivering bombs to the enemy; he was seriously injured.  He was held in captivity for over 5 years.  He had an opportunity to be released but refused to leave his men.  Inadequate medical care and torture rendered him permanently disabled.  He wore the scars of his capture for the rest of his life.  And yet, he went on to become a successful politician.

I challenge Trump or any elected official to take his heroism away to make him look bad after his death.  Commander Bone Spurs was a professional draft dodger.  A man who considered himself too elite to be in the military.  A man too scared to face a bullet or defend the oppressed.  A man who claims his sexual escapades were his Vietnam.  A man who is clearly a coward now, just as he was all of those years ago.  A man who had nothing wrong with himself other than thinking he was above being in the military and had a rich daddy to keep him at home.  A very, very, small man.

I repeat it, John McCain was an American War Hero.  He put his life on the line willingly.  Senator McCain has had to live with his physical injuries and inevitably the emotional injuries of war and torture most of his adult years.  I never heard him whine about not being treated fairly, or try to take away constitutional rights from his non-supporters, or try and have them censored.  He never made an issue of the freedom to not stand for the flag, which is only a symbol.  Being intelligent, I'm sure he understood the intent was not protesting freedom; it protested police terrorism on specific groups of people.

John McCain will not be dirtied by Trump, the GOP, or Trump's mutant basket of deplorables. His place in history has already been reserved as a veteran, a POW, and a US Senator.  The good people of our country, the ones willing to stand up and speak the truth, fight for it, and protect our country, will always prevail.  Always.

Thank you, Senator McCain, for your military career and your service to our country for so many years.

John McCain is an American Hero.

Rest in peace and fly high, sir.