On the fourth day, he broke. He signed and taped a confession that was broadcast to his fellow prisoners: "I am a black criminal, and I have performed the deeds of an air pirate. I almost died, and the Vietnamese people saved my life. The doctors gave me an operation that I did not deserve."
He was put in a cell and left alone for two weeks. He was nearly feverish with despair. "I kept imagining they would release my confession to embarrass my father," he wrote in his memoir. "All my pride was lost. . . . No one would ever look upon me again with anything but pity or contempt."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday, September 06, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 35 words Type of Material: Correction
The imperfect hero: In Thursday's Section A, a caption for a 1961 photo accompanying a profile of John McCain gave his rank as lieutenant. When the photo was taken he was a lieutenant junior grade.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Monday, September 08, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 52 words Type of Material: Correction
"The imperfect hero": The profile of Sen. John McCain in Thursday's Section A said that Washington magazine once dubbed him "Senator Hothead." The magazine was the Washingtonian. Also, a caption for a 1961 photo with the profile gave McCain's Navy rank as lieutenant. At the time he was a lieutenant junior grade.
In a 1973 essay in U.S. News & World Report written shortly after his release, he depicted the event with more bravado: "The 'gooks' made a serious mistake, because they let me go back and rest for a couple of weeks."
That rest, he said, gave him renewed strength, and he was able, with prayer and the support of his fellow POWs -- with whom he communicated by tapping on cell walls -- to endure what would be another year and a half of solitary confinement.
In late 1969, with peace negotiations underway in Paris, conditions for American POWs improved. They were eventually housed together in large groups and were able to create diversions for themselves. McCain, a history buff, taught "The History of the World from the Beginning." He was also in charge of movie nights, reenacting "Viva Zapata!" and "Stalag 17" from memory.
McCain has said that the thought of his confession still unnerves him but that he forgave himself years ago. Known for his black humor, he can even joke about it. Some years ago, a reporter for Esquire was with him when a staffer asked McCain for advice for her son, who was acting up in school.
"Tell him to confess," replied McCain. "Say, 'I am a black air pirate, and I have committed crimes against the peace-loving people at my school.' It always worked for me."
Cindy Lou Hensley
In April 1979, McCain met Cindy Lou Hensley at a cocktail party in Hawaii. He was 42, coming to the end of a four-year stint as director of the Navy's Senate liaison office and casting around for a new life. Hensley, the daughter of a wealthy Phoenix beer distributor, was 25, with a master's degree in special education from USC.
McCain has said he was separated from his wife, Carol, when he met Cindy, but his divorce petition asserts that he lived with Carol until January 1980. In any case, his eye began wandering long before he saw Cindy.
