In Vietnam, war veterans follow McCain's White House bid (AFP)

by Frank Zeller 24 minutes ago HANOI (AFP) - Four decades ago a young Vietnamese army sergeant, Nguyen Van Dai, launched the surface-to-air missile that downed John McCain's bomber jet from the skies above Hanoi. The SAM blew off the right wing of the A-4 Skyhawk and sent the wounded McCain parachuting into a lake, starting his five-and-a-half-year ordeal as a prisoner of war, much of it in the infamous "Hanoi Hilton". As the Republican senator now makes a run for the White House -- with his war heroism a central theme of his campaign -- Dai and other Vietnamese veterans said they held no rancour and even backed his presidential bid, citing his post-war efforts to restore diplomatic ties. Others, however, bemoaned his apparent lack of remorse for bombing their country. Dai recounted how on October 26, 1967 his Missile... [read full story]