John McCain

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John Sydney McCain III was born August 29, 1936 in a military hospital at Coco Solo NAS in the Panama Canal Zone, Panama. His father, John McCain, Jr. was a naval officer stationed at the Canal, doing duties at a small submarine facility. At the same base and time, his grandfather was the base commander. "Jack McCain was transferred to New London a few months later, but for that brief period Panama became the epicenter of three generations of a family whose distinguished naval service would eventually span the great national upheavals of the twentieth century, from World War I through Vietnam and its still murky aftermath"(Timberg, 1999, p. 4). They stayed there for about 10 years, until his father got word he was again going to be stationed, to the west coast. His mother, Roberta, let little Johnny along with his brother and sister finish out their school term at Saint Stephen's, but then piled them in the family car to take a migration trip to the west coast as many military families did. In his childhood, he was known as a rebellious kid (Timberg, 1999). Little McCain might have gotten his toughness, revolting manner from his father and grandfather. John McCain I was a hard-nosed man, a man born to be in the military. When he was a young boy, he would nonchalantly talk about the Navy, but knowing more about it then anyone else his age. Though he wasn't good in the classroom he was unmatched when it came to knowledge on Navy aviation and tactics for employing attack carriers. He was an honored Vice Admiral, who was on the USS Missouri the day Japan surrendered. He died four days later, and was reported on the New York Times front page. Then came John McCain II. McCain II had an awful high standard to live up to brought by his father. He had thoughts of going to Princeton to study history and literature, but that was a pipe dream. He always knew he would be going to Annapolis, to become what his father was, and to keep a family military tradition. At Annapolis, McCain II viewed rules and regulations stupid and most importantly made to be broken. However, he graduated and worked his way up to rank as an Admiral for the Navy.

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