PBH / off topic: do your thing (travelguide, pictures) / post

Hanoi Hilton' jailer says he'd vote for McCain

'Hanoi Hilton' jailer says he'd vote for McCain By MARGIE MASON, Associated Press Writer
36 minutes ago

HAIPHONG, Vietnam - John McCain has an unusual endorsement — from the Vietnamese jailer who says he held him captive for about five years as a POW and now considers him a friend.

"If I were an American voter, I would vote for Mr. John McCain," Tran Trong Duyet said Friday, sitting in his living room in the northern city of Haiphong, surrounded by black-and-white photos of a much younger version of himself and former Vietnam War prisoners.

At the same time, he denies prisoners of war were tortured. Despite detailed POW accounts and physical wounds, Duyet claims the presumed Republican presidential nominee made up beatings and solitary confinement in an attempt to win votes.

His statements seem to echo the communist leadership's overall line on America: It insists the torture claims are fabricated, but that Vietnam now considers the U.S. a friend and wants to lay the past to rest. Duyet said one of the reasons he likes McCain for president is the candidate's willingness to forgive and look to the future.

Duyet, 75, grew testy during the interview when repeatedly questioned about torture and why so many other former POWs say they too were mistreated. He preferred to talk about McCain as an old buddy.

His photo collection doesn't include one of him with POW McCain, and he said they have not met on any of McCain's postwar visits to Vietnam. But Duyet said he often met the young Navy pilot when off duty, that McCain would correct his English, and that he had a great sense of humor. And although they never saw eye-to-eye on the war that killed some 58,000 Americans and up to 3 million Vietnamese, he said they listened to each others' views.

"He's tough, has extreme political views and is very conservative," Duyet said. "He's very loyal to the U.S. military, to his beliefs and to his country. In all of our debates, he never admitted that the war was a mistake."

Duyet also talked about prisoner volleyball games and said the captives were fed the same meals as average wartime Vietnamese in Hanoi. The same propaganda is depicted in photos of smiling American POWs displayed at the Hoa Lo prison, now a museum for tourists.

McCain spent 5 1/2 years behind bars in Hanoi. His flight suit and parachute were recently added to the museum display, which includes a recording of bombs falling and air raid sirens shrieking.

McCain still bears the evidence of his wounds and has described being repeatedly bound and beaten by his captors. After his plane was hit by a surface-to-air missile during a bombing mission over Hanoi in 1967, McCain ejected and suffered a broken leg, two broken arms, and was briefly knocked unconscious. The Vietnamese mob who found him smashed his shoulder and he was bayoneted.

He says medical attention was delayed in an attempt to get him to reveal information and he was held in solitary confinement for over two years.

Other former POWs also say they were tortured by communist forces at the jail, and many say they still suffer physical pain from it.

"They are liars. What they said is not true," said Duyet, who was a jailer at Hoa Lo from 1968 until the POW release in 1973, serving as prison chief the last three years. Duyet claimed McCain "invented that story that he was tortured and beaten to win votes."

Asked for a response, the McCain campaign referred The Associated Press to Orson Swindle, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel who was imprisoned with McCain. Swindle said Duyet "has no credibility on every utterance he makes."

"For him to say that no one was tortured, he's a damn liar, and the history books in the aftermath of Vietnam were replete with stories of what prisoners went through. I've got friends that died up there from torture."

"He says John McCain would make a great president. How the hell does he know? He has absolutely no credibility," Swindle added.

McCain has returned to Vietnam several times and visited what's left of the old prison, whose pilots' section has been replaced by a gleaming high-rise of offices, apartments and shops.

McCain was instrumental in pushing for normal relations between the two former foes, and the friendship was highlighted by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's trip to see President Bush at the White House on Wednesday.

McCain's wife, Cindy, was in southern Vietnam last week doing charity work. She said if her husband wins the election the couple would delight in paying a presidential visit to the country.

If that happens, Duyet said, "I hope to meet with him again as two old friends. At that time, I would toast to congratulate him as U.S. president.

"We would talk about the future, and we would not talk about the past."

By billyb on Jun 27, 2008, 13:14 in Off Topic.

billyb says on Jun 27, 2008, 13:15:

Obama may have Hillary campaining for him now, but you can't beat this for an endorsement ;))

0 funny, 0 helpful.

billyb says on Jun 27, 2008, 13:18:

can a mod move this to the off topic? i seem to have posted it here by mistake.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

miamimike says on Jun 27, 2008, 13:19:

McCain needs all the help he can muster. I am pleased Tran is in McCain's Corner,,,

"Wait a minute. What did you just say? You're predicting $4-a-gallon gas? That's interesting. I hadn't heard that." -- Feb. 28, 2008 --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

billyb says on Jun 27, 2008, 13:26:

Then again, I don't know how believable old trannie is, since he is denying that they tortured their prisoners.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

nueva york bombero says on Jun 27, 2008, 13:39:

Never trust a Tranny....

0 funny, 0 helpful.

gringoloid says on Jun 27, 2008, 15:39:

billy, what happened to that thread where we were arguing with each other about JFK? i was away for awhile with no internet and it seemed like it disappeared.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

billyb says on Jun 27, 2008, 17:10:

I just looked for it and couldn't find it. So where you been?

0 funny, 0 helpful.

gringoloid says on Jun 27, 2008, 21:48:

I was in Medellin for awhile with no internet except for a few minutes in a cafe.

I'm debating whether to head to Santiago, Chile on Sunday...................problem is it's very cold there now and you need some kind of a winter coat that I don't have. Nothing worse than getting sick on a trip.

I have an apartment in Bogota as well as Medellin so I don't know which place to call home now.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

gringoloid says on Jun 27, 2008, 21:53:

another thing on travelling right now...........Avianca charged me a $137.000 fuel surcharge on top of everything else. They also said my bags were 13 kilos over and I then had to pay $38.000 to cover it. No way my bags were over weight.

when they pull this BS they're going to stop people from travellling altogether.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

billyb says on Jun 27, 2008, 22:06:

Loid, i think you are more a bogota type. And I mean that in a good way. BTW, have you been to Cali? I would not normally recommend Cali to the average gringo, but believe me cali is enchanting to those that can appreciate it, like I think you would.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

christobeldawg says on Jun 27, 2008, 22:52:

that was a double edged sword endorsement of McCain, as in, he is called a liar, but still a good guy, and a patriot. When I saw the post, I was thinking the guy was going to totally endorse him, and talk about how he took the torture without giving up any secrets, etc..

admittedly, arriving can feel great too

0 funny, 0 helpful.

gringoloid says on Jun 28, 2008, 08:07:

you´re absolutely right billy about bogota............

now, i don´t want to start some kind of a pissing match between paisas and bogotanos here, there´s been too many already................but bogota is better.....for me that is.

medellin is friendlier, paisas speak better spanish, the panorama is easier on the eyes, mde is cheaper, many pretty girls along with being friendly pretty girls, the sun shines more, the roads and transportation are much better, there are more gringos available for converstation in case you need to speak english to someone, real estate is much cheaper, santa fe de antioquoia is nearby, airport is easier to deal with, air is cleaner, mde is safer, etc.,

but if i had $400 grand usd for an apartment in Rosales, (neighborhood in bogota)..................i wouldn´t even think of visiting medellin let alone live in mde.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

gringoloid says on Jun 28, 2008, 08:24:

sad to say billy that i´ve never been to cali......i{ve been to all the other cities but that one.........i should have gone with mantequila but i didn{t know there was a beauty contest going on in the hotel he stayed at.............

there is a respected poster here by the name of expatriate who helped me move to colombia. i like a cold mountainous climate like bogota and he told me i would not like cali because of the heat. he is probably right.

however, i{m curious as i heard the old saying that you go to medellin to find a wife but you go to cali to find a mistress. i need a more thorough understanding of this proverb. cali is next for me.

plus i want to go partying with la campania in cali to find out what he does in terms of intoxicants, if any, that causes him to write posts that are not too understandable.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

dwmte7 says on Jun 28, 2008, 08:59:

boy, i'll bet that news changes the price of tea in china.........

dwmte

0 funny, 0 helpful.

miamimike says on Jun 28, 2008, 14:24:

Wow, that's a pretty stiff fuel and Baggae Surcharge! A year from now, it may look like a bargain!

"Wait a minute. What did you just say? You're predicting $4-a-gallon gas? That's interesting. I hadn't heard that." -- Feb. 28, 2008 --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

billyb says on Jun 28, 2008, 15:37:

The afternoon heat in Cali is a bitch, but when the breezes start kicking in late afternoon/early evening it turns quite pleasant.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

dwmte7 says on Jun 29, 2008, 05:17:

as yet, i fail at understanding how prison is a qualifier for presidency. i have nothing specific or personal against senator mc cain, but he, as did all other POW's, "talked" telling the enemy--this prick included--anything he/they wanted to know.

simply surviving these camps is a lucky note and thanks that many survived goes to the men themselves and their will to live and stamina. however, i'm still left wondering how slam time qualifies one for the presidency.

does someone who did 6 years in miami-dade stand a good chance at a run for office?

dwmte

0 funny, 0 helpful.

dwmte7 says on Jul 12, 2008, 17:07:

everytime i think of this thread, i think mc cain autta go back and throttle this c sucker. this is the buy who tortured him, beat his teeth out. now they're pals? bull shit.

dwmte

0 funny, 0 helpful.