I'm a patriotic Vietnam Veteran who doesn't care much about the half-staff issue. I also think that too many times the media calls people "heroes" who are no such thing. A person must do something heroic to deserve such an honorific. That being said, John McCain was truly an American Hero. He was in very bad shape in the prisoner of war camp, had been tortured, and had an opportunity to be released early by the North Vietnamese (his father was the commander of all forces in Vietnam at the time and they were looking for a propaganda win), but Sen. McCain refused as other American prisoners had been there longer than him, and he insisted that they should get out first. That is a heroic thing to do. RIP Senator McCain.
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