Camarillo vet gives McCain his support
Are you a veteran? Do you know a veteran or just admire veterans? It's time to look at John McCain through a veteran's eyes.

In 1988 I deployed on the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal. Although older and smaller than Nimitz-class carriers, Forrestal was an outstanding ship with a palpable fighting spirit. Pervasive throughout that great ship was the legacy of John McCain.

In July 1967, McCain was nearly killed aboard Forrestal when a missile accidentally fired from a nearby plane struck his plane, creating a deadly inferno. Afterward, he was offered the option to return home. Lesser men would have taken that offer, but McCain volunteered for more combat duty.

Months later, he was shot down and imprisoned in North Vietnam. Throughout that ordeal, he continued to demonstrate a level of inner personal strength known only to true heroes. When offered parole by his captors, who sought to score diplomatic points because of his Navy lineage, he refused. At incalculable personal sacrifice, he remained with his comrades, absorbed more torture but denied the enemy a diplomatic victory.

His service to country then shifted to political office, where he has served America with honor and excellence. There has been no greater champion of veterans' issues than John McCain.

In choosing our next president, voters must consider many criteria. Consider this. Issues ebb and flow, but in John McCain we find constancy of purpose, incredible personal courage, unbridled patriotism, selfless commitment, and a willingness to do what's right regardless of consequence.

Which other candidate possesses as deep a well of experience, judgment and fortitude from which to draw during times of crisis? Not one.

These attributes will win him the Republican candidacy and carry him to the presidency. Polls show that he is the only Republican who can win in November. The time is now to put one of the great Americans of our time into the highest office in the land. Paul Grossgold Captain, U.S. Navy (retired) Camarillo