John McCain was born August 29, 1936. At Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone. He was born to naval officer John S. McCain, Jr. and Roberta McCain. McCain’s ancestry comes from Scot-Irish Anglo-Irish and the English. His father and his grandfather on his father’s side, both became four-star United States Navy admirals. His family, including his siblings also took up various naval points in the Pacific. In 1951 his family settled in North Virginia. There John attended Episcopal high School, A private school in Alexandria. He graduated in 1954 excelling at wrestling while in High School. Following his father and grandfather, he enrolled in the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. There he was a leader in many ways. He would often stand up for people who were getting bullied. During this time, he also became a lightweight boxer. Although he excelled in subjects such as literature and history he struggled with math. He graduated in 1958, being in the bottom ranks of his class. After graduation he was commissioned for two and a half years of training as a naval aviator in Pensacola. He completed flight school in 1960, and became a naval pilot of an air-ground attack force. He was stationed in the USS Intrepid and Enterprise in the Caribbean and Mediterranean seas. He crashed twice and once flew into a power line, but received no major injuries. On July 3, 1965, John married Carel Shepp, a model from Philadelphia. McCain adopted her two sons, Douglas and Andrew. They later had a daughter together named Sidney. In summer 1967, McCain was issued a combat assignment during the Vietnam war. Boarding the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal, he was 30 years old. On July 29, 1967, by then he was a Lieutenant commander, John was almost killed. After escaping his burning jet a bomb exploded while trying to help another pilot escape. He suffered several injuries from bomb fragments in his chest and chest. Since the Forrestal was out of commission, he volunteered for duty on the USS Oriskany. John was later captured during the war on October 26, 1967. While flying a mission over North Vietnam he was shot down by a missile over Hanoi. During the fall he fractured both arms and a leg. After regaining consciousness, North Vietnamese soldiers pulled him from the water where he had landed crushed his shoulder and stabbed him with his bayonet. After being transported to a hospital he was beaten and interrogated for information. He received medical treatment only after the Vietnamese realized that his father was a top admiral. This made the front pages of newspapers. McCain spent six weeks with marginal care and eventually was sent to a camp on the outskirts of Hanoi. He was paired with two other Americans who didn’t expect him to last a week. In March 1968, he was sent to solitary confinement where he stayed for two years. In mid 1968 McCain was offered early release because his father had just received command over all of the operations in Vietnam. McCain turned it down however, stating that every man that was taken before him would have to be released as well. In August 1968, severe torture began on McCain. Rope bindings and other methods were used to get information out of him and eventually made him sign an anti-American statement. He was finally released after five and a half years on March 4, 1973. His wife too had received crippling injuries while he was away, experiencing an automobile accident in December 1969.After grueling therapy McCain was finally reinstated and became commanding officer of a training squadron stationed in Florida. For improved statistics he was granted the Meritorious Unit Commendation. Later, McCain became the liaison for the Navy in the Senate. Later after divorcing his wife McCain married Cindy Lou Hensley on May 17, 1980 with two members of Senate as his groomsmen. Not long after this he resigned from the Navy. He received 17 military awards and decorations. He then turned his sights to politics. He was elected to congress in 1986, defeating Richard Campbell. In the 1980’s McCain received $112,000 from Charles Keating Jr. it was lawful and the senate Ethics Committee cleared him of all accusations. He would later run for president in 2000, but was beat out by President George W. Bush. He served for a fourth senate term and is now running for president. He has made quite a bit of change in the way we run the country. He knows a lot about war. Not only because he was involved in the Vietnam war, but was even a hostage for six years.