Lt. Commander McCain was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal off the coast of Vietnam. On July 29, 1967, McCain, an A-4 Skyhawk pilot, was preparing to take off on a bombing mission over North Vietnam, when a horrifying disaster struck. A missile accidentally fired from a nearby plane, striking the fuel tanks on McCain's plane.

In the ensuing explosions and fire, McCain escaped from his plane by crawling onto its nose and diving into the fire on the ship's deck. He turned to help a fellow pilot whose flight suit had burst into flames. But before McCain could reach him, more bombs exploded, blowing him back 10 feet,

It took 24 hours to contain the inferno on the Forrestal. By the time it was all over, 134 men lost their lives, hundreds more were injured, and more than 20 planes were destroyed. It was the worst non-combat-related accident in American Naval history.

After the Forrestal disaster, McCain could have returned home. But he would have none of that. Instead he volunteered for more combat duty aboard the carrier USS Oriskany, It was a fateful decision that would stop the clock on John McCain's life and separate him from his family, and from America, for five and a half years.

THE HANOI HILTON

In the early morning of October 26, 1967, just 3 months after the Forrestal disaster, Lt. Commander McCain departed for his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam. This one was particularly dangerous. McCain and his fellow pilots were targeting a power plant in the center of Hanoi.

As McCain was completing his bombing mission, a Soviet-made surface-to-air missile struck his plane, shearing off the right wing. McCain ejected as his plane spiraled violently to earth. The force of the ejection knocked him unconscious and both of his arms and one leg were broken.

He regained consciousness as he plunged into a lake near his bombing target. Quickly, an angry mob gathered, seeking retribution for the rain of bombs. Dragging him from the lake, they broke his shoulder with a rifle butt and bayoneted him repeatedly. They loaded McCain into a truck and delivered him to the infamous - and hated - "Hanoi Hilton."

Denied medical treatment for days, McCain's condition deteriorated badly. His fellow POW's, shocked at his appearance, thought McCain was near death. But they were determined that he survive. And thanks to their care, his health gradually improved.

Within a few months of McCain's becoming a prisoner of war, his father, Admiral Jack McCain, was appointed commander of all U.S. forces in the Pacific. The North Vietnamese, sensing a propaganda prize, offered McCain early release.

But McCain refused early release, citing the code of conduct that prisoners of war should be released in the order in which they were captured. His captors demanded he accept their offer. McCain refused, over and over again. For his repeated defiance, his communist captors savagely beat him.

Before it was over, John McCain spent 5 years as a prisoner of war, two of them in solitary confinement.

By 1973 the Vietnam War was over. McCain and nearly 600 fellow POW's were released and came home, ending the longest incarceration in U.S. history.

After extensive physical rehabilitation, John McCain regained flight status and continued his service to his country. But sadly, like a lot of prisoners of war, John's marriage ended several years later.

Nearing the end of his Navy career, now-Captain John McCain's last duty assignment was as the Navy's liaison to the U.S. Senate. It was during this time that he met Cindy Hensley, from Phoenix. John and Cindy were married in 1980 and made their home in Arizona.

THE HOUSE AND THE SENATE

By 1982, an Arizona House seat opened up. John, sensing a new way to serve, announced his candidacy. Campaigning door-to-door, he outworked his 5 opponents and won the Republican primary. And he went on to win the election. Maintaining a ritual of returning home to Arizona every weekend, McCain was re-elected overwhelmingly two years later.

By 1986, Barry Goldwater announced his retirement from the U. S. Senate. John was elected to succeed him and continue Goldwater's tradition of independence and plain-talk conservatism. Now in his third term in the Senate, McCain was re-elected in November 1998 with nearly 70% of the vote. In November 2004, Senator McCain received over 76% of the vote and will begin serving his fourth term in January 2005.

THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM

From day one in Washington, John McCain has been guided by one cause above all others: the fight for freedom. His mission is to make government smaller and reduce federal spending, so American families have the freedom to chart their own course and small business can create new opportunities.

For John McCain, smaller government and reduced spending aren't just talk. He means it. For years he's been on a one-man crusade against wasteful spending in Washington. Because of his crackdown on waste in government, he's been nicknamed "The Sheriff."

John McCain knows that cutting waste means we can lower the tax burden on American families. And reform the inheritance tax and eliminate the unfair marriage penalty that punishes people who marry.

John McCain is determined to save Social Security once and for all by stopping the politicians from raiding Social Security funds to pay for new government programs and wasteful spending.

But most of all, John McCain worries about what kind of country we're leaving our children. He's protecting them from the evils of Internet smut by promoting the use of filtering technology. And he is working to send federal dollars directly to local school districts, bypassing the Washington bureaucrats and their rules and regulations. He believes that parents and teachers know best how to strengthen America's schools.