. Biden said the shift demonstrated how far bilateral relations had evolved from the"bitter past" of the Vietnam War.but was part of a broader effort to improve global stability by building relationships throughout Asia, including with Vietnam, at a time of tensions with Beijing.Memorial near where, as a 31-year-old Navy lieutenant commander, his Skyhawk dive bomber was shot down by the North Vietnamese.
The harrowing 1967 incident began a more than five-year ordeal that became the defining moment for the future Republican senator from Arizona and two-time presidential candidate. At one point, McCain’s captors asked if he wanted to go home, but it was a trick question. The U.S. military’s code of conduct required prisoners to be released in the order they were detained. The North Vietnamese wanted to make a show of releasing McCain early as his father assumed command over the Pacific. McCain refused.
It was the last time McCain would break. He refused to sign any other statements or meet with visiting American anti-war activists. Eventually, McCain was removed from solitary confinement and mingled with other U.S. prisoners of war. He was released on March 14, 1973.