Rating: 
Summary: A true american hero
Review: Outstanding read and gives an insight on John McCain and why
he is in my opinion a real hero. Also after his ordeal he has
no hidden agenda or material motive for anything he does. He has passed those things. He has been to the mountain and came
back.
Rating: 
Summary: Good read
Review: A good book for insight into John McCain, the man. About 1/3 of
the book is devoted to establishing McCain's lineage bydiscussing
the legendary characters of his grandfather and father. The
remaining 2/3 is devoted to McCain's personal battles and fears
of being held as a POW by the Vietnamese for 5 years. This was
the most captivating and equally hard to read portion of the
book; McCain paints a grusesome picture of the tortures he and
other POWs had to face. The wildly swinging moods and feelings
of despair of people held captive by the opposing side in a
brutal war are effectively captured and conveyed.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting family history
Review: The book like many have said here is not a pure biography on John McCain's life. It includes his father and grandfather life highlights as well. I will be honest I consider myself pretty good in history and a World War 2 buff and never knew anything about McCain's grandfather. A very interesting character, I would love just to read a book just on that guy alone. Like many people have mentioned here to understand John McCain you really need to know about his dad and granddad. His naval career before Vietnam for me is pretty shocking. You always see movies on crazy naval pilots but I figured they were overblown. McCain shows that the stereotype is not too far off. His experience in Vietnam and how he survived is simply put incredible. Even though he suffered less than others according to him, his heroism is still remarkable. I enjoyed the book and greatly admired the man and to the people that fought in Vietnam. I plan to read certain segments to my classroom especially the chapter on the Washrag.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning Memoir
Review: I don't particullary care for Senator McCain's political views. But after reading his family memoir, I think McCain has had a very interesting life. His experiences in VietNam seem so gruesome. It was also interesting to get to learn about McCain's father and grandfather. If you are wanting to learn about a admirable politician and at the same time learn about the Viet Nam war, you should definitely give this book a try.
Rating:
Summary: One of the most inspirational books you'll ever read
Review: This is a great book, without a doubt. I read this book about a year and a half ago, just before the primaries started to heat up, and I instantly fell in love with the guy. This guy is the real deal: A true American patriot. He's no pretending politican like Bush or Clinton. He loves his country and has donated his life to serving it. Read this book, you won't be sorry. Also, McCain inspired me with this book and his words during the campaign to serve my country. Next year I'll start my first year at The Citadel military academy, where I'll hopefully be trained as an Officer in the United States Navy.
Rating:
Summary: Honor, Duty and Familial Obligations Defined
Review: This is not your typical "man-running-for-president" memoir, most of which fail as even rudimentary books and instead serve as long and turgid pamphlets designed to impel the political careers of their subjects. John McCain has a compelling story based upon the example of his father and grandfather (both admirals) and his years spent as a prisoner of the North Vietnamese. This is a book about family, honor and surviving tortuous trials unimaginable to almost everyone else on the planet. Scion of a long line of Americans who have served our country in our armed forces, McCain's service was perhaps inescapable. Simply, he was bred for it and never questioned that he would wear an American uniform. His most immediate examples were his grandfather, a four star admiral whose carrier task force helped crush Japanese naval strength in the last year of the war, and his father, another four star admiral who (ironically) was CINCPAC during McCain's last years of captivity. The first half of the book covers the careers of father and grandfather and illustrates the family code that serves as a lodestar for the author. Both admiral McCains were salty men who valued personal honor, duty and the primacy of naval service above all else in their lives. They also shared a strong father-son bond, one which McCain was to also experience, although his internalization of his own father's presence does not seem to reach the levels experienced between the father and grandfather. What makes this book compelling are McCain's prisoner of war experiences. Tortured, maimed, neglected and challenged by the North Vietnamese, McCain resisted and survived with his honor intact. The details of the privations he suffered (and those suffered by his fellow POW's) are fascinating reading, and serve to honor the men who wore our country's uniforms behind enemy lines and were asked to sacrifice far beyond what they had expected. The themes of honor and duty run throughout the book and in places alight upon almost every page. Without the incredible personal tests to which McCain's honor and sense of duty were put, their emphasis could seem cynical and dismissed as simplistic patriotism. No one reading the book will doubt that the easy road for prisoner McCain would have been to abandon his honor and duty to relieve his physical and mental sufferings (nor wonder whether they themselves could have held on to such principals were they in his place). I doubt anyone will be less than impressed and honored that such men as McCain agree to serve our country and fight our wars. This is a good book with a compelling story that will cause you to think about the meaning, and true tests of, honor and duty.
Rating:
Summary: A great book about a great American
Review: A magnificant biography, equal parts personal history and American history. John McCain has lived a truly amazing life and he recounts his experiences here with not only great detial but a flair for storytelling as well. Follow McCain through the war heroics of his grandfather and father, his childhood, his heroic service in he Vietnam War and his years of suffering as a prisoner of war. In most cases, books by politicians are nothing more than self-serving, campaign-themed, lightweight personal accounts. Not this one. Love McCain? Hate McCain? Either way, read the book. It is a uniquely American story and helps put one of the most fascinating characters on the political stage in context. You'll develop a real understanding of both McCain and his actions.
Rating:
Summary: I want a sequel!
Review: McCain's many pages about his father and grandfather were compelling and necessary to create the excellent context for the later pages about the author. But what I REALLY wanted to know was (and still is) the author's experiences, emotions, thoughts and motivations, especially before, during and after his imprinsonment in Viet Nam. I also want to know what he thought the political situation was and how it affected his life and those of the other POWs. I almost wish he had forgone the jokes and light anecdotes to make room for serious analysis. Too bad that the fighter pilot personality precludes such introspection! The most eye-opening aspect of this book to me, who has never had any exposure to the military culture, was McCain's comment that even in the worst possible situation, soldiers are duty-bound to continue fighting the 'public' war and the 'private' war.
Rating:
Summary: John McCain for President!
Review: Some may know John McCain as the republican senator from Arizona who is in love with campaign finance reform. Others remember him for the memorable battle that he waged against George W. Bush in the 2000 primaries. During this time, McCain's face was pictured on many magazines and almost nightly on the news. The media reported on his progress and his infamous "Straight-Talk Express." But there is another side to this man that few dared report. A side that is described in-depth in his autobiography Faith of My Fathers. The last time that John McCain's grandfather saw his son was caught on film. The picture was taken on the USS Proteus just after World War II in the Pacific had ended and a Japanese submarine had surrendered to the Americans. Admiral McCain went home after relinquishing his command of the fast carrier task force. During a coming-home party, he suffered a heart attack and died at the age of sixty-one. Admiral McCain's wife received condolences from President Truman, General MacArther, Admiral Nimitz, and many others. In life McCain Senior was a three star Admiral, but was awarded fourth star posthumously. In Faith of My Fathers, John McCain begins by describing this picture and his grandfather, the famous WWII Admiral. McCain describes him in great detail... everything from his accomplishments and commands to the way he treated the men under his command, all the way to his death. Chapter Five begins McCain's description of his father, John Sidney McCain, Junior. McCain Jr. was also an admiral in WWII. He commanded the USS Gunnel during Operation Torch, the American invasion on North Africa. Later in Vietnam, McCain was named Commander in Chief, Pacific Command (CINPAC). This is the second most prestigious office in the Navy, and the one held by Adm. Nimitz two decades before. He had become the first son of a Naval officer to attain the rank of his father, Four-Star Admiral. Here starts the story of John McCain, III. He was born on a Naval base in Panama and moved to the states shortly after. Around the age of two, he developed a strange temper. Whenever he got mad, he would hold he breath until he passed out. One of his first memories came about the age of five when Pearl Harbor was bombed. After the bombing, his father left for base and he saw little of him for the next four years. McCain's childhood was one that few would want. He rarely saw his father and he constantly moved from city to city and school to school. He made friends than move and repeated the process over and over. After high school, McCain followed in his father's footsteps and went to the Naval Academy. Annapolis was a world new to McCain, rich with tradition and full of serious people. He never agreed with the old traditions and rebelled against them at every opportunity. Harassment and beatings from the upperclassmen and demerits were just some of his punishments. He was almost throw out of the Academy at least twice, once for having a TV in his dorm room. McCain graduated fifth from the bottom of his class. Despite this, he was accepted into the Navy flight school in Pensacola, FL. Completing his training, he was assigned to the USS Forrestal. "Shortly before eleven on the morning of July 29, 1967," he remembers, "on Yankee Station in the Tonkin Gulf, I was third in line on the port side of the ship... Stray voltage... from a nearby F-4 Phantom... somehow fired the six foot Zuni [a missile] from beneath the planes wing... I looked out at a rolling fireball as the burning fuel spread across the deck..." This has been known ever since as the Forrestal Fire. McCain helped below deck before going to sick bay to have his burns and shrapnel wounds treated. As the ship limped back to port, the men who were "fit to travel" were sent home. But McCain requested to be transferred to the USS Oriskany and was accepted. On September 30, 1967, McCain was "killed" over the city of Haiphong. Killed in the Navy's term for shot down. The last half of the book describes McCain's harrowing experiences as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He described the beatings, interrogations, bad treatment, the many camps that he was transferred to, and much more. He believes, though, that he was treated less harshly and given special treatment because of the rank and office of his father, CINPAC. The Vietnamese tried to force him to be released, but following the Naval regulations, because pilots who had been captured before him were remained imprisoned he refused the offer. For that, he was beaten. McCain was released on March 15, 1973. I believe that this book is relevant to what we have been or will be discussing in class. The first half talks about WWII in the Pacific from Admirals McCain Sr. and Jr. It discusses at length Admiral Nimitz, Admiral Halsey, and General MacArthur. It makes mention of Tarawa, Iron Bottom Sound, Guadalcanal and the July, the Gill, and the Zeke, (Japanese planes). The book not only makes mention of these, but creates a semi-journal of Admiral McCain's experiences during WWII. I would like to conclude by saying that highly recommend this book. This is not an ordinary politician who wrote an autobiography to gather votes. The stories about McCain's father and grandfather are engrossing and the stories about his experiences as a POW are sad, but you can't put it down.
Rating:
Summary: An in-depth and humble personal memoir
Review: Senator John McCain¡¦s ¡§Faith of my Fathers¡¨ is worth reading, especially for those interested in learning more about the POW experience. I very much appreciated the praise he gives to his father and grandfather, both high ranking Navy admirals who set an example that would later help sustain him through his six year ordeal as a POW in North Vietnam. While he gives the reader an inside look at his life before and during Vietnam, his humility masks much of the extent of his early behavior, from his youth and throughout his POW captivity. His rebelliousness at Annapolis and his antics during the first nine years of his naval career go deeper than he wishes to disclose. For instance, he neglects to mention his back talking to an upper classman who was cruelly and improperly abusing a lower classman friend. This type of stubbornness and individuality, frowned upon at the Academy, served him well at the Hanoi Hilton as he often refused to cooperate with his captors. His reluctance to mention these and other incidents in his book is understandable. For a more detailed understanding of these and other occurrences, I highly recommend Robert Timberg¡¦s ¡§The Nightingale¡¦s Song.¡¨
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