On the final Sunday afternoon in February the Bridgeville Area Historical Society welcomed back Dr. John Aupperle for his annual visit and was rewarded by another informative and entertaining presentation.
Dr. Aupperle was profoundly impressed by the significance of Senator John S. McCain’s remarkable life when it was celebrated by his funeral and memorial service last summer. He then commented that he believed that history, rather than being a record of events, is the story of people and the way they affect events.
He reported that this got him wondering what influences combine to produce “difference-makers” and especially this specific unique individual. Being an avid reader of history and of human nature, he wisely decided to read “Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir”, the 1999 book McCain and Mark Salter wrote about the Senator’s life and heritage.
His presentation was a thoughtful review of this book and the conclusions he had reached when he extrapolated Senator McCain’s experiences to the much broader question.
The McCain family has a long history of military service, dating back to pre-Revolutionary War times. One of them was a member of Washington’s Staff during the Revolution. Another fought on the side of the Confederacy during the Civil War.
John S. McCain, the Senator’s grandfather, followed an undistinguished academic career at Annapolis with an assignment with the Great White Fleet on its famed world cruise from 1907 to 1909. He served on the cruiser San Diego escorting convoys in the North Atlantic during World War I.
Recognizing the potential for naval aviation he went to flight school at Pensacola, earning the distinction of being the oldest person (52) to earn his wings there. During World War II he served as Chief of Staff of the third fleet, as a four-star admiral and “Bull” Halsey’s right-hand-man.
John S. McCain, Jr., the Senator’s father, had an equally mediocre academic record at Annapolis, but quickly demonstrated his competence on active duty. He served on a submarine in the Pacific during World War II, then progressed upward through the ranks in a succession of responsible assignments.
By 1967 he was promoted to full (four-star) admiral, becoming part of the only father/son combination to reach that level. A year later President Lyndon Johnson named him Commander in Chief Pacific Command, in charge of all U. S. forces in Vietnam.
Five months earlier his son, the future Senator John S. McCain III, had been shot down in Vietnam and was imprisoned in Hanoi. Lieutenant Commander McKain spent five and a half years as a POW, many of them in solitary confinement. When his captors offered to release him as a propaganda move, he declined citing the Military Code of Conduct.
Dr. Aupperle did not dwell on McKean’s ordeal as a POW, except to highlight his efforts to retain his principles. The horror of Asian POW camps has been well documented in numerous books. Laura Hillenbrand’s story of Louis Zamperini’s ordeals, “The Unbroken”; Richard Flanagan’s novel “The Narrow Road to the Deep North”; and Dr. William Shadish’s powerful memoir, “When Hell Froze Over” tell us that McKain’s horrible experience and his strength in surviving it are not unique.
Following his repatriation in 1973, McCain resumed his career in the Navy. In 1977 he was appointed to the Navy’s Senate Liaison Office, an assignment he described as “my real entry into the world of politics and the beginning of my second career as a public servant”.
Four years later he retired from the Navy and began a political career as a Congressman from Arizona, a career that included six terms as an extremely effective United States Senator and an unsuccessful attempt to run for President.
A widely reported incident from his failed campaign is indicative of his character. When a supporter encouraged him to say something negative about his opponent, he responded “No ma’am. He’s a decent family man, citizen, that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues.” In today’s political environment it is difficult to realize that happened only ten years ago.
Consequently we must add McCain’s name to a long list of distinguished public servants who wanted to be President and whom we rejected – Hubert Humphrey, George McGovern, Walter Mondale, John Anderson, Robert Dole, etc.
Let me interrupt briefly to insert a trivia question. We know that Vietnam War POW John McCain ran for President. “What other Vietnam War POW ran for Vice President?”
Dr. Aupperle reported that, after considerable reflection, he had concluded that John McCain’s greatness came primarily from his family heritage, a synergism of heredity and environment. He chose a career in the Navy and went to Annapolis because that was what was expected of him. He adhered to his principles when he was a POW because that was what was expected of him. He strove to do what he believed was right when he was a public servant because that is what was expected of him.
The speaker also, perceptively, pointed out that the Senator and his father and his grandfather all had “feet of clay”, but that these imperfections did not deter from their greatness. That’s a good lesson for all of us; a little bit of tolerance would serve us well.
He concluded his presentation by reiterating what he believes were the cornerstones of John McCain’s vision – Integrity, Honor, and Respect. Again, we were struck with the contradiction between these concepts and today’s political environment.
It is easy to agree with Dr. Aupperle’s interpretation of what John McKain believed was the source of his greatness; converting it into a generality is a little more difficult. It is much too easy to point out obvious exceptions to it as a rule.
The answer to the trivia question is Ross Perot’s running mate in 1992, Vice Admiral James Stockdale. Their ticket polled almost 19 percent of the popular vote that year.
Next month the Historical Society will return to its “Last Tuesday Night” schedule with a presentation on Benjamin Franklin by another welcome old friend, Jack Puglisi. Guaranteed to be entertaining as well as informative, it is scheduled for 7:30 pm on Tuesday, March 26, 2019, in the Chartiers Room at the Bridgeville Volunteer Fire Department.