The findings infuriated the more conspiracy-minded elements in the POW/MIA community. The Jerry Kileys of the world think McCain has committed an unthinkable sin. "Some people believe that there are live POWs still from the Vietnam War," explained Morgan of American Ex-Prisoners of War. "And they felt like Senator McCain did not delve deeply enough into that, considering that he was a POW." But Morgan, while hastening to say that her organization considers McCain "one of our own," acknowledges that McCain's unpopularity extends beyond the fringe.
Fair or not, the senator has also generated a reputation as being hostile to the families of those Americans still missing. And some of that is probably his fault. A well-known example is his barbed exchange with a witness whose brother went missing in Vietnam. Dolores Apodaca Alfond, who appeared before the Senate committee on Nov. 11, 1992, expressed concern that the committee might shut down without finding all the answers. The famously testy McCain bristled at the suggestion. "I do not denigrate your efforts," he said. "And I am sick and tired of you denigrating mine and many other people who have views different from you." Even he admitted that day that he may have "appeared upset." News clips say McCain left the hearing room that day to the sound of hisses from the audience of around 50 relatives of missing Americans.
That panel was chaired by Massachusetts Democrat Sen. John Kerry, a Vietnam veteran who already had a troubled relationship with his fellow veterans because of his outspoken opposition to the war after his tours of duty. It was while serving on the panel together that McCain and Kerry solidified a friendship. In addition to their experience in Vietnam, the two men shared the belief that the United States would be more likely to get information about Americans unaccounted for after the war by normalizing relations with Vietnam.
In the spring of 1993, the two men traveled to Vietnam together. On their return, Kerry reported "very special efforts" by the Vietnamese to help the United States get more information on missing Americans. But some experts in the field didn't see any substantive progress by the Vietnamese. "[McCain and Kerry] were coming back [from Vietnam] and making pronouncements of great progress," said Childress, the Reagan administration official. "And those of us who dealt with the Vietnamese for many years know progress when we see it."
Normalization of relations with Vietnam went into high gear during the Clinton administration, with the full support of McCain, a process that is now complete. But many observers believe that President Clinton -- who did not serve in Vietnam -- could not have moved aggressively to normalize relations without the political cover provided by McCain, the war hero. Among the POW/MIA community and some veterans, McCain is referred to as a "cardboard cutout" for Clinton during this period on this issue. It did not further endear the Arizona senator to some veterans.
All these things accumulated over time. "A lot of people thought he moved too fast and too far with normalization, probably in good faith," Childress explained. "And then when he joined with Clinton, he identified himself with that. And when he and Kerry became good friends, and with everything he had said about Vietnam veterans, all that added up in people's minds." Kiley's campaign against McCain is, in a sense, just a continuation of his work against McCain's Senate colleague during the last presidential election. He and Ted Sampley, organizers of Vietnam Veterans Against John McCain, also formed Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry and worked to discredit Kerry's record in 2004.
Unfortunately, it is possible that the normalization route favored by McCain and Kerry did come at a cost to some of the families of missing Americans. There are still 1,763 Americans missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam conflict. Based on U.S. government information, the National League of Families, an advocacy group for the families of those Americans, estimates that with full cooperation from the Vietnamese, remains or proof of death could likely be ascertained for half of that number. The United States has formally asked the government in Vietnam for a raft of specific documents -- like results of Vietnamese crash site investigations -- that might shed some light on these. The documents have not been forthcoming. Some experts think this is because there is little upside for the Vietnamese to go out of their way now.
About the writer
Mark Benjamin is a national correspondent for Salon based in Washington, D.C. Read his other articles here.
Story finder (3 ways to search Salon)
Salon Directory (browse by topic)