McCain doesn’t need apology, but he deserves one

John McCain says he doesn’t “need an apology” from Donald Trump, who’s inflamed the political rhetoric by suggesting that McCain isn’t a “war hero.”

The Arizona U.S. senator, though, said family members of others who have served and sacrificed for their country need the apology from the flame-throwing Republican presidential candidate.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/donald-trump-john-mccain-feud-veterans-usa-today-op-ed-120347.html?hp=t3_r

Well, if you’ll excuse me for butting in, senator … but you certainly deserve an apology from the bombastic blowhard, Trump.

McCain’s story is about as well-known as any political story out there. His Navy fighter jet was shot down during McCain’s 23rd combat mission during the Vietnam War. He suffered a broken leg and two broken arms when he ejected from his airplane over Hanoi. McCain was taken captive and imprisoned for more than five years. He was tortured, held in solitary confinement, tortured some more. His injuries never were treated properly. He resisted his captors the best he could.

If that doesn’t define heroism, then perhaps nothing does.

McCain told “Morning Joe”: “I’m not a hero, but those who were my senior ranking officers, people like Col. Bud Day, a congressional Medal of Honor winner, and those that have inspired us to do things that we otherwise wouldn’t have been capable of doing. Those are the people that I think he owes an apology to.”

Trump — who obtained multiple student and medical deferments during the war and never served — has bloviated quite badly over McCain’s service.

Yes, he should apologize to McCain — and to all others who have served.