Video: 'John McCain Combat Footage'

(Thursday, October 26, 1967; during the Vietnam War, part of the Indochina Wars and the Cold War) — U.S. Navy pilot John McCain III, the son of Vice Admiral John S. McCain Jr., was shot down over North Vietnam today and taken prisoner.

McCain had taken off from the USS Oriskany in an A-4 Skyhawk on his 23rd bombing mission when his plane was struck by an anti-aircraft missile.

McCain ejected over Hanoi, breaking both arms and his right leg in the process, and parachuted into the Truc Bach Lake in the heart of the city. Local citizens saved him from drowning by dragging him to the shoreline; some began to beat him before another citizen intervened.

McCain would be held as a prisoner of war for more than five years, turning down a chance at being set free early before finally being released on March 15, 1973.

He would later serve as a U.S. Senator from Arizona and would be nominated as President of the United States by the Republican Party in 2008.

Video: 'John McCain captivity in Vietnam, 1967-Original Footage'