Interview: McCain Fellow Hanoi Hilton POW & Naval Academy Dorm-mate; Why He Won't Vote For McCain

Transcript of Interview with CDR, USN, Phil Butler on the Rob Kall Bottom-up Radio Show (1360 AM WNJC)

Transcription by Jay Farrington and Paul Hawley

Kall:   Great to have you with us here on the Rob Kall Show at 1360 AM. 

Butler:   Thank you. 

Kall:   It's interesting; I've had a couple of emails. Now you wrote this article, "Why I won't Vote for John McCain" and you talk about your experience having been a POW for eight years, huh? 

Butler:   Yes, that's right. 

Kall:  Oh! I'll bet you know exactly how many days after eight years it was, too. 

Butler:   Well, two thousand eight hundred and fifty five days and nights—as a POW. 

Kall:   Oh my God, it's hard to imagine; it's mind boggling; thank you for your service! 

You know, a couple of people have said, "This guy's doing to John McCain what John Kerry had done to him by the 'Swiftboaters'." 

Butler:   No, that's not true, because I think the swiftboaters got some preconceived lies that they were pushing about John Kerry's service; that he was not a bona fide veteran; his medals weren't real and so forth, and in my article that I've written here,  Why I Won't Vote for John McCain, I say clearly that I respect John (McCain) and I respect his service as a naval officer and also as a POW. 

Kall:   Yeah, let me read what you wrote: "Senator John Sidney McCain III is a remarkable man who's made enormous personal achievement. He's a man that I'm proud to call a POW who returned with honor." 

Butler:   Absolutely. 

Kall:   So you're not any way like a Swiftboater; I just wanted to kind of clear that up right from the beginning. 

Butler:  No, I'm not in any way in concert with the Swiftboat Liars. 

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