We have all heard the stories about Senator John McCain’s exemplary military service. We have all been treated to the endless references to his wounds from the war that were inflicted through his agonizing years of torture at the hands of the North Vietnamese.
We are all, by now, through one term as a US Representative, five terms as a US Senator (and counting), and three presidential primary runs where he was expected in the early going in 1999 to be able to defeat Al Gore, familiar with his excellence in service to America. Of course, in that race, he ultimately bowed to the superiority of the Bush family when George W. came on the scene to wrap up the primary race in a big way and ultimately embarrass the senator with a win of 47 states.
McCain tried again in 2004 to a worse jumping-off point, but rebounded in 2008, winning the primary, only to be completely consumed by the massive and corrupt political activist machine powered by the cult of personality that was Barack Obama. You could almost call John McCain the slightly less feminine version of Hillary Clinton.
This is not to mention all the completely fawning press coverage that he has enjoyed over the decades since his return from captivity in 1973 (with the notable exception of his run against the hallowed personage of Obama…even the press is not going to cut their throats that deeply for a dirty Republican).
We now know that all of the lies that were told about his captivity were the first chapter in a mythology for the purposes of a long and lucrative political career. We know about how he and John Kerry paired to bury information about POW/MIA personnel to hide their own shameful past in the “prisons” of Indochina.
Allegations have been made by many that the hellish inferno aboard the USS Forrestal in 1967 that caused 134 sailors and airmen to lose their lives…all due to a PRANK by then airmen John McCain!
You can’t prove a negative.
Yes
I don’t like McCain but this is a lie! He was not responsible for the Forrestal tragedy!
All true
I have seen the actual deck video of the fire during firefighting training back in 76. This was one of the most intense and horrible thing anyone could have ever witnessed. I still pause and think about those men even now.
Murderous pig
TIME for this TRAITOR to HANG for TREASON!!!
Copy and paste until
everyone knows John McCain
JUST A LITTLE TID BIT ABOUT OUR FRIEND JOHN MCCAIN”For all those who believe John McCain is a hero, or even a patriot: “Songbird” McCain is no hero! Trump was right! John McCain is a career parasite. He is not a hero. He was shot down in Vietnam because he violated orders and was hotdogging at low altitude over Hanoi and the North Vietnamese shot him down.His mangled shoulders that he claims came from torture by his North Vietnamese captors? Not so much. According to those who spent time at the Hanoi Hilton will attest, McCain was never tortured during his time in North Vietnam. In fact he was given special privileges and special treatment because he freely gave the North Vietnamese all the information they asked for whenever they asked for it, which is why the commander and staff at the Hanoi Hilton called him “Songbird.” He also made 30 propaganda broadcasts for the North Vietnamese. Hero, I don’t think so!In reality, Songbird McCain injured both of his shoulders because he violated Navy SOP when he ejected from his dying aircraft, breaking both shoulders in the process.From a Powdered Wig article a year ago, citing Veterans Today, there was a list of “33 POWs (who) faced execution for treason after Vietnam until Nixon pardoned all POWs. McCain was on the list of the 33, in fact at the head of it.”That’s the kind of hero Songbird McCain was then and that’s the kind of hero Songbird McCain is today.”Prior to being a “songbird”…”John McCain, fighter pilot aboard the USS Forrestal carrier, was inadvertently but recklessly responsible for the devastating fire aboard that ship in 1967. According to witnesses, McCain was waiting to taxi into the launch and was in front of another fighter jet. During this time, he pulled a sophomoric trick called a “wet start” which is to blow flame through the exhaust. This trick set off a missile on the plane behind him, igniting an explosion and fire. McCain then abandoned his plane in panic, and in the process dropped two of his own unexploded bombs on the deck. These bombs were caught in the ensuing blaze and exploded, igniting an inferno that eventually killed 134 crewmen. McCain, was immediately sequestered and kept from an enraged and vigilante crew who knew what he’d done. Calls were made to his father, a Navy admiral. Shortly after the fire was extinguished McCain was secretly hustled to an arriving helicopter and removed from the plane. No charges were brought against him, and the official story of the fire did not identify him or his actions as the cause of the catastrophe.McCain, who finished 394th out of a class of 399 at the Naval Academy, but who was the wealthy son of an active admiral, had been ushered into flight school despite his poor and disqualifying academic credentials. Much like his academic record, he was a poor student pilot and was not considered a “top gun” by his peers, though he learned to fly. In his brief career as a lackluster pilot before being downed and captured, he had destroyed airplanes on 4 previous events and was considered by his peers to be incompetent.”
I have seen the actual deck video of the fire during firefighting training back in 76. This was one of the most intense and horrible thing anyone could have ever witnessed. I still pause and think about those men even to this day.
There is much political propaganda and misinformation about John McCain and the cause of the Forestall fire. First off, I want to make it clear, I do not like the man. I am very familiar with his Navy antics and his “bad luck” as a naval aviator. I am closely and very aware of his incarceration in Hanoi as a POW. Being a Navy Veteran of 23 years and a member of VVA, I pay close attention to these and other issues. One thing I do closely embrace is the truth. No matter where it might lead or who it indicts I have always pursued the truth in the Navy, as a police officer and later as a private investigator.
It is alleged that then LtCdr John McCain caused the deaths of 134 sailors on the Forrestal by executing a wet start. There are tons of documents that refute this and one that I uncovered is taken from the records and logs of the investigation.
Immediately after the fires was extinguished the investigation was commenced. Many pieces where assembled. I will concentrate on one item, that is the flight deck spotting diagram of the flight deck on July 29, 1967.
To prepare a flight deck of an aircraft carrier for launch every aircraft must be “spotted” to obtain the max usage of every foot of space on the flight deck and to position the aircraft effectively and safely. In two places on a carrier there are control stations that plan and execute the movement, launch and recovery of aircraft. The first is Hanger Deck Control, where the aircraft are “parked” for maintenance and servicing between flights. The second is Flight Deck Control where positioning of the aircraft for launch are planned and plotted. The diagram attached shows the positions of all the aircraft on the morning of the 29th of July. It was assembled from testimony of the flight deck control personnel and from the photos of the original plot board that the Senior Aviation’s Bosun’s Mate in charge of the Flight Deck Control had the forethought to order the plotting table to be preserved and not be touched or altered in any manner.
The aircraft where positioned according to order of launch. Airborne Early Warning and Tanker aircraft are positioned forward on the flight deck because these aircraft are first to launch. Next come the fighter aircraft that serve as escorts for the strike aircraft, these are F-4F. Next to launch are the mission specific air craft. These are the attack aircraft such as the A-4E Skyhawk and theF-4B Phantom. In that these aircraft are usually loaded out with tons of ordinance such as Iron Bombs and air to surface rockets these aircraft are positioned on the rear of the flight deck with their tails “sticking” out over the water. This is done for the sole purpose that in the event of a hot start (when too much fuel is pumped into the jet engine before ignition is executed) a blast of flame coming out the tail pipe would go out over the water. If the aircraft where not positioned this way the danger of the flame striking the aircraft to the rear or the ordinance on the aircraft is present. The warhead of the rocket or the bomb could and would detonate.
This did not cause the fire on the Forrestal.
Some of the F-4B aircraft that day where loaded with Zuni Rockets. These are not a bomb as so many have misidentified. They are 5-inch dia. 77-inch long, air to ground rockets. They are carried in a pod that holds 4 rockets and are fired electrically by the pilot at a ground target. They were carried on the F-4B Phantom aircraft parked on the starboard side of the flight deck as the diagram shows.
John McCain was in aircraft 416, next to him was Lt Cdr Fred White in aircraft 405, his wing man. Both aircraft where sitting parked side by side on the port side of the flight deck with their tales sticking out, over the side of the carrier. The question now is, how could a hot start by John McCain in A/C 416 (if he executed one on purpose) strike the aircraft of Whites A/C 405? If it did occur the flame would have had to make a ninety degree turn to do that.
Witness statements and plate cameras film footage confirms that the first plane that exploded was Lt CDR Whites A/C 405. This was due to it being struck by a Zuni Rocket that most likely came from A/C 110, an F-4B Phantom) parked across the flight deck on the starboard side and pointing towards A/C 405 (subsequent examination of the wreckage of the F4 110 showed that one Zuni rocket left the pod from the starboard wing mounted pylon rocket pod. The remaining rockets “cooked off” in the pod or self-detonated due to heat from the fire.
There is much debate as to why and how the rocket left the pod. Weather it was due handling error, faulty electrical connections or cockpit mistakes will probably never be answered. One thing that is most certainly assured is that John McCain’s Aircraft was not the point of origin for the fire on the flight deck of the USS Forrestal. Anyone who claims other wish is just denying the evidence and besmirching the memory of those who perished and those that survived that day.
John McCain did do many things in his navy career, as a POW and as a US Senator that was despicable and unsavory. I have little if any respect for the man, as it as may be, he did not cause the fire onboard the Forrestal.