Adm. James Stockdale Dies

[Tiger in Spain 0]

A true hero has passed. Rest in peace, Admiral.

War hero, politician James Stockdale dead at 81

POW, Medal of Honor winner ran for vice president on Perot ticket in ’92

WASHINGTON - Retired Vice Adm. James Stockdale, a former prisoner of war and Ross Perot’s running mate in 1992, has died, the Navy announced Tuesday. He was 81.

The Navy did not provide a cause of death but said he was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. He died at his home in Coronado, Calif.

In the 1992 presidential election, Stockdale became independent candidate Perot’s vice presidential running mate, initially as a stand-in on the ticket but later as the candidate.

Stockdale gave a stumbling performance in the nationally televised vice-presidential debate against Dan Quayle and Al Gore and later said he didn’t feel comfortable in the public eye.

During the debate, he commented on an exchange between Quayle and Gore:

“I think America is seeing right now the reason this nation is in gridlock. The trickle-downs and the tax-and-spends, or whatever you want to call them, are at sword’s point.”

When Perot ran again in 1996 as the candidate of his Reform Party, Stockdale had rejoined the Republican Party.

<snip>

During the Vietnam War, he was a Navy fighter pilot based on the USS Oriskany and flew 201 missions before he was shot down on Sept. 9, 1965. He became the highest-ranking naval officer captured during the war, the Navy said.

He endured more than 7 1/2 years as a prisoner, spending four of them in solitary confinement, before his release in 1973. He was tortured repeatedly, according to the Navy.

Stockdale received 26 combat decorations, including the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest medal for valor, in 1976. A portion of his award citation reads: “Stockdale ... deliberately inflicted a near mortal wound to his person in order to convince his captors of his willingness to give up his life rather than capitulate. He was subsequently discovered and revived by the North Vietnamese who, convinced of his indomitable spirit, abated their employment of excessive harassment and torture of all prisoners of war."

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[AURaptor 1,126]

The Navy did not provide a cause of death but said he was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. He died at his home in Coronado, Calif.

Sorry to hear that. And how unfitting. It was Admin Stockdale who appeared out of obscurity to become Ross Perot's running mate as he uttered those unstirring words - 'Who am I? And what am I doing here? '

[WarTim 3,457]

I salute you Sir for your service to Our Country. May God Bless the Stockdale Family.

[jaydubb121 22]

It's a shame that a great warrior like this was thrust into the national spotlight at a time when he was not comfortable with it. I'm sure a lot of people will think of Phil Hartman's parody of him on Saturday Night Live when they hear of his death. They should be thinking of a man who while being held captive in Vietnam, and after being tortured numerous times( shoulders dislocated, back broken, etc.) used a mahogany stool in his cell and mashed his face against it hundreds of times until his face was a bloody mushy mess. He did this to himself because he wanted his captors to know he was not a candidate to star in any of their propoganda films played back in the states. I don't know a lot of folks that would do that. Now the country has lost one that would. RIP Admiral. We know why you were here.

[AURaptor 1,126]

It's a shame that a great warrior like this was thrust into the national spotlight at a time when he was not comfortable with it. I'm sure a lot of people will think of Phil Hartman's parody of him on Saturday Night Live when they hear of his death. They should be thinking of a man who while being held captive in Vietnam, and after being tortured numerous times( shoulders dislocated, back broken, etc.) used a mahogany stool in his cell and mashed his face against it hundreds of times until his face was a bloody mushy mess. He did this to himself because he wanted his captors to know he was not a candidate to star in any of their propoganda films played back in the states. I don't know a lot of folks that would do that. Now the country has lost one that would. RIP Admiral. We know why you were here.

167521[/snapback]

Thanks for reminding us what he went trough. Sad to say, what most folks will remember him for is his opening line at his press conference, and (maybe) that he spent 7 yrs as a POW. Thank you main stream media

Today we have Senators who are more comfortable praising terrorst being held in Gitmo for a few years.. The scum who've been treated like kings in comparison to what a real hero like Stockdale endured.

[TexasTiger 13,016]

Today we have Senators who are more comfortable praising terrorst being held in Gitmo for a few years.. The scum who've been treated like kings in comparison to what a real hero like Stockdale endured.

167537[/snapback]

Can't we just honor and respect Stockdale without turning this into a partisan thread?

[Tiger in Spain 0]

Jaydubb and Raptor make two great points and the article itself lends credence to what they say. What is mentioned first in MSNBC's piece about his passing? It wasn't that he earned the Medal of Honor or that he was a POW that endured real torture for 7 1/2 years....it was about his performance during the presidential debate leading up to the 1992 election. The true measure of this great man is tucked away at the end of the article.

I brought the subject of this hero up at quarters this morning with my sailors. Two thirds of them didn't know who he was, what he did, or what he went through. Some of them only faintly recalled him as being involved in politics. You could see the amazement in their eyes when I recounted his military service, described what his captors did to him and how he showed them that they would never break him.

[Piglet 0]

Seems to me the lesson from Stockdale's unfortunately memorable debate was NOT that he should be an object of derision.

The spectacle of a proven man of honor skunking himself in that debate format tells me more about the usefulness of such a format than it ever did about Stockdale, Al Gore, or Danforth Quayle. We reward people who are skilled at giving cute, pat, crowd-pleasing answers to smartass questions, rather than people who are good leaders. And we get the sort of politicians you can expect from that.

In a fair world, Stockdale would stand head and shoulders above doofuses like Quayle and Gore. In our media-driven times, he was made to look like a buffoon COMPARED TO GORE AND QUAYLE. Think about that for a moment...

[WarTim 3,457]

I agree with piglet 100% on this one. (That should give you reason to ponder your thought proccess.)