Make-Believe Maverick
A closer look at the life and career of John McCain reveals a
disturbing record of recklessness and dishonesty
BY TIM DICKINSONPosted Oct 16, 2008 12:00 AM
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At Fort McNair, an army base located along the Potomac River in the
nation's capital, a chance reunion takes place one day between two
former POWs. It's the spring of 1974, and Navy commander John Sidney
McCain III has returned home from the experience in Hanoi that,
according to legend, transformed him from a callow and reckless youth
into a serious man of patriotism and purpose. Walking along the
grounds at Fort McNair, McCain runs into John Dramesi, an Air Force
lieutenant colonel who was also imprisoned and tortured in Vietnam.
McCain is studying at the National War College, a prestigious graduate
program he had to pull strings with the Secretary of the Navy to get
into. Dramesi is enrolled, on his own merit, at the Industrial College
of the Armed Forces in the building next door.
There's a distance between the two men that belies their shared
experience in North Vietnam — call it an honor gap. Like many American
POWs, McCain broke down under torture and offered a "confession" to
his North Vietnamese captors. Dramesi, in contrast, attempted two
daring escapes. For the second he was brutalized for a month with
daily torture sessions that nearly killed him. His partner in the
escape, Lt. Col. Ed Atterberry, didn't survive the mistreatment. But
Dramesi never said a disloyal word, and for his heroism was awarded
two Air Force Crosses, one of the service's highest distinctions.
McCain would later hail him as "one of the toughest guys I've ever met."
On the grounds between the two brick colleges, the chitchat between
the scion of four-star admirals and the son of a prizefighter turns to
their academic travels; both colleges sponsor a trip abroad for young
officers to network with military and political leaders in a distant
corner of the globe.
"I'm going to the Middle East," Dramesi says. "Turkey, Kuwait,
Lebanon, Iran."
"Why are you going to the Middle East?" McCain asks, dismissively.
"It's a place we're probably going to have some problems," Dramesi says.