The Navy in McCain seeks one last tour of duty

The walls of U.S. presidential nominee John McCain's Arizona headquarters were plastered with the senior senator's "Country First" rhetoric, as volunteers occupied themselves by making phone calls to registered voters -- Republicans and independents-- for a few minutes of storytelling about McCain.

A huge cardboard photo cutout of a young McCain in his military outfit stood tall for visitors or new volunteers to take pictures of as they stood about in their "Country First" or "McCain for President" T-shirts.

Early in the presidential race, the Republican's presidential candidate's time in the U.S. Navy and his experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam became the key and most-exposed aspects of his background, which were hoped to send a message of experience and a true American hero to battle his democratic rival Barack Obama.

Obama, 46, is a first-time senator, who was born in Hawaii and spent much of his youth in Hawaii and Indonesia.

"He has always put his country first. From the time he went into the military, after he was released and returned to America and having been in the Congress and Senate since 1982 ... 'Country First' -- just a rhetoric and all he wants now is one last service to his country," said Gerald Coffee, a former Navy captain who was McCain's fellow prisoner of war in North Vietnam.

Coffee, now one of the nation's top columnists and political commentators, is also a part of McCain's presidential campaign.

"His time in the military for sure shaped the way he is now. He believes in a stronger military, but also the last person who would want to see a war. We know the consequences of a war.

"Country First is just a reminder of McCain's story that has been overshadowed by many political distractions, and for the past 20 years Americans have lost understanding about the military greatness of the U.S.."

And obviously, he added, McCain would be the better candidate to steer the country out of a military-related crisis.

"We wouldn't be looking at the Southeast Asia we see now if we hadn't been in (communist) Vietnam. And let me say that we didn't lose the war. We won militarily but we lost the domestic and media support," Coffee said.

McCain's capture and imprisonment began in 1967 in a mission over North Vietnam. With his father being a top admiral, McCain was offered an early release by North Vietnamese for propaganda purposes but he turned it down.

McCain, 72, was eventually released in 1973. Like Coffee, his wartime injuries left McCain permanently incapable of raising his arms above his head.

He moved to Arizona in 1981 after marrying his second and current wife, and pursued politics.

Since his first failed run for the 2000 presidential vote, McCain has been met with criticisms that his uncontrollable tantrums, as well as his temperament and tendency to use salty language are too feisty for him to become a president.

Paul Hickman, the state director for McCain's presidential campaign, said in Phoenix on Saturday a lot of McCain's criticized personality traits could be traced back to his Navy years.

"Many say he is hot-tempered. But that's all the Navy part of him. He was brought up in a Navy environment, was born on a Naval base and has always been surrounded by Navy officers.

"Navy culture is of shouting, yelling, screaming. That's what people mistake as hot-temper. But, with the Navy experience, he is very goal-oriented and does not hold grudges," he said.

Hickman has worked with McCain since 1972, when McCain made his second Senate race.

His military background has also led McCain to have a disdain for the United Nations, Coffee said.

"I can tell for sure that McCain will not be dependent on the UN if he becomes president. He believes in a strong alliance of major powers," he said.

Like U.S. President George W. Bush, Coffee said, McCain learned about the 'ineffectiveness' of the world body in responding to a crisis when it refused to approve invasion into Iraq in 2003.

"The UN went back and forth with the whole process, giving time for the Iraqi leaders to transport the weapons of mass destruction out of Iraq, and we haven't been able to find them," he said.

But with the military background in mind, Hickman said McCain's first top priorities in office would be to resolve the U.S.-waged wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Coffee shared the idea, saying, "The two wars are his top priorities. He's going to make sure American soldiers come home with victory and not in defeat as the Democrat's candidate wants."