McCain Evokes Time As Prisoner Of War

(AP) — Republican John McCain recalled his struggle as a Vietnam prisoner of war as he celebrated victories in presidential primaries in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia on Tuesday.

“I do not seek the presidency on the presumption that I am blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save my country in its hour of need,” the Arizona senator said in remarks prepared for delivery at a campaign rally.

“I seek the presidency with the humility of a man who cannot forget that my country saved me,” said McCain, a former Navy aviator who spent more than five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam after his plane was shot down.

“I’m running to serve America, and to champion the ideas I believe will help us do what every American generation has managed to do: to make in our time, and from our challenges, a stronger country and a better world.”

McCain commended former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who remains in the race despite falling impossibly behind McCain in the race for convention delegates. McCain has 789 delegates to Huckabee’s 241, according to a tally by The Associated Press.

McCain called Huckabee a credit to the GOP.

“He certainly keeps things interesting, a little too interesting at times tonight, I must confess,” McCain said. “But I have even more reason to appreciate just how formidable a campaigner he is.”