As a POW, McCain put life on the line

While Sen. John McCain isn't my guy, I must take exception to reader John Hurley's wish (Fence Post, Aug. 18) that "... people would stop calling John McCain a hero."

It is quite outrageous to accuse McCain of "surrendering to the enemy." Having one's plane shot out from under them while making an assault on an enemy is no surrender.

Hurley went on to assert that "McCain elected to sit out the rest of the war in the POW camp. Possibly prudent, but again not heroic."

I've read about the conditions under which McCain was kept while in POW status and those conditions were anything but pleasant.

It's not for me to judge what's heroic or not. However, it is clear that Sen. McCain put his safety and fate on the line in the service of his country. As such, his military service was honorable and should not be demeaned by anyone.

Charles F. Falk

Schaumburg