War Hero?

Said candidate Obama of John McCain recently:

He is a genuine American war hero.

How polite. How considerate. How inaccurate.

Let's review.

John McCain was a Naval pilot in the Viet Nam war. He would get into his aircraft, climb up to some pre-determined altitude, fly over a target, drop his bombs, and then return to his carrier. He would then have a good hot meal, retire to his cozy little bunk in his private room, and repeat the next day.

No heroics involved there.

Yes, yes... he would have to evade the anti-aircraft fire and the Russian surface-to-air missiles being shot off in all directions. Just part of the job. And keep in mind, our superior technology gave our pilots a real edge, and most of our pilots that got shot down had experienced some sort of system failure, or got nailed by a 100% pure-luck shot by the North Vietamese gunners.

No slogging through the jungle, no constant exposure to misquitoes, leeches, scorpions, all manner of biting and stinging things. No endless mud, humidity and rain. None of that endless misery endured by the average American foot soldier on the ground below. No being shot at day and night, no watching your buddies die before your eyes in some forsaken far-off rice paddie.

No, none of that. Stuff like that could break a man eventually.

McCain's neat and organized war consisted of rising in the morning, taking a nice hot shower, putting on clean clothes, then having coffee and a good breakfast in climate-controlled comfort. He would have numerous enlisted men to do his every bidding, then go fly off and drop a few bombs, return to the ship and repeat the next day.

Tough man, tough.

Then he got shot down and taken prisoner, just like many other American pilots. And no doubt that it was tough and nasty from there on. But unlike those many other American pilots in the same situation, he did not resist the vicious and inhumane treatment given all. He threw in the towel and signed confessions that condemned America. For that, he was awarded better treamtent and better conditions than his fellow American prisoners. It's all in the records.

No heroics there either.

I'm not claiming that I would do any differently. But I'm not running for president of the United States either, using my supposed "war hero" status as part of my credentials.

The real heroes are the pilots who held out, who didn't crack, who didn't sign those confessions, which - by the way - Hanoi still has on file, ready to be dragged out and used for any purpose they may desire, to embarrass America, to shame and make a laughing stock of a president McCain, to make us look the fools.

So what heroics is Obama refering to?