Joe McCain is the young brother of John McCain. The family is steeped in naval tradition and of course their father was in the navy. This meant that Joe attended 17 different schools by the 9th grade. He entered the naval Academy but left in his first year in 1961. He had tried to be like his older brother, John, his father and grandfather and ancestors but was just different. He didn't like the formality and rigour of the navy, so later attended the College of William & Mary, which he enjoyed.
When his brother John was a prisoner of war, the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in SE Asia made him aware of the POW's plight. He dramatized being a prisoner by sitting in a bamboo cage in LA. He petitioned N. Vietnamese reps which meant a lot of travel. He helped bring 13 tons of mail to the N. Vietnamese delegation in Paris demanding humane treatment for the POWs.
Maybe this background created a very sensitive person. He became a reporter and actor and has written a beautiful and true essay on Jews which I cherish. Hee are a few lines from the piece. for an Episcopalian, he shows true understanding for Jews and our travails.
"Well, now the Jews have a homeland again. A place that is theirs. And that's the point. It doesn't matter how many times the US and European powers try to rein in Israel, if it comes down to survival of its nation, its people, they will fight like no lioness has ever fought to save her cubs. They will fight with a ferocity, a determination, and a skill, that will astound us... The irony goes unnoticed--while we are hammering away to punish those who brought the horrors of last September here, we restrain the Israelis from the same retaliation. ...While we mourn and see the attack of September 11th, we don't notice that Israel has a September 11th sometimes every day."
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