'When John
McCain was
my captive'
By Andrew
Harding
BBC News in
Haiphong,
Vietnam
23/06/08
-- -- Tran
Trong Duyet
- a
sprightly
retiree and
amateur
ballroom
dancer -
must rank as
one of John
McCain's
more
unlikely
supporters.
Four decades
ago, during
the Vietnam
war, Mr
Duyet was in
charge of
the
notorious
Hoa Lo
prison - the
place where
Mr McCain
says he was
brutally
beaten and
tortured
during
five-and-a-half
years as an
American
prisoner of
war.
"McCain is
my friend,"
said
75-year-old
Mr Duyet as
he feeds the
caged birds
he now keeps
in his
garden in
this coastal
city.
"If I was
American, I
would vote
for him."
Informal
chats
Navy pilot
John McCain
was shot
down during
a bombing
raid over
the North
Vietnamese
capital,
Hanoi, in
1967.
He ejected
from his
aircraft and
parachuted
into a city
lake - only
to be
dragged out
by an angry
crowd,
barely
conscious,
and with two
broken arms
and a broken
leg.
From there
he was taken
to Hoa Lo
prison,
known to its
American
military
inmates as
the "Hanoi
Hilton".
McCain has
since
described
enduring
months of
solitary
confinement
and
systematic
torture
which drove
him to try
to kill
himself.
"I don't
know how
he'd react
if he met me
again," said
Mr Duyet,
flicking
through old
black and
white
photographs
of himself
and his
American
prisoners at
Hoa Lo.
"But I can
confirm to
you that we
never
tortured
him. We
never
tortured any
prisoners."
Mr Duyet
reminisces
instead
about how he
often
summoned the
future US
presidential
candidate to
his private
office for
informal
chats.
"We used to
argue about
the war -
about
whether it
was right or
wrong," he
says.
"He is a
very frank
man - very
conservative,
and very
loyal to his
country and
the American
ideal.
"He had a
very
interesting
accent and
sometimes he
taught me
words in
English and
corrected my
accent. I
have
followed his
career since
he left
prison."
Rapprochement
So is Mr
Duyet
implying
that that
Senator
McCain lied
about his
treatment at
the Hanoi
Hilton?
"He did not
tell the
truth," he
says.
"But I can
somehow
sympathise
with him. He
lies to
American
voters in
order to get
their
support for
his
presidential
election."
But Mr
Duyet's
propaganda-perfect
version of
events is
impossible
to verify -
and should
be treated
with caution
in a country
where the
Communist
authorities
still keep a
tight
control over
the media.
Relations
between
Vietnam and
the United
States have
improved
dramatically
in recent
years,
following
the
normalisation
of ties
between the
former
enemies in
1995.
Mr McCain
played a
crucial role
in bringing
about that
initial
rapprochement
- a fact
which helps
explain Mr
Duyet's
enthusiastic
support for
the McCain
presidential
campaign.
"I wish him
success in
the
presidential
election,"
he says.
"Of course
the
Americans
started the
war in
Vietnam and
killed so
many people
- but now we
want to
leave the
past behind.
"So now I
consider
John McCain
my friend
because he
did much to
mend
relations
between our
two
countries.
And if he
becomes
president he
will do more
to improve
those ties."
Story from
BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7459946.stm
Published:
2008/06/23
16:59:19 GMT
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