AP News, November 17th, 2007
A trip to a small-town pizza shop on Saturday became a journey into John McCain's past.
One woman brought out a silver prisoner of war bracelet she wore as a student at the University of Maine at Farmington to raise awareness of McCain's capture. Another man told McCain he served with the Arizona senator's grandfather in World War II.
Kathy Treamer, an independent voter who had never met the Republican presidential hopeful before Saturday, wore the bracelet starting in 1970 or 1971 — she couldn't recall. She wore it until his release and since then, she's kept it in a jewelry box in her home.
"We would get up and watch the POWs come home on TV," she said.
Norman Sanaterre, meanwhile, said he knew McCain's grandfather and served on the same ship during World War II.
"I'm definitely voting for him. I voted for him 2000," he said.
McCain said he was surprised to find so many familiar people.
"He knew my grandfather in World War II. He told the story that he was at his post in the general quarters. It was the middle of the night and he was falling asleep. My grandfather, the admiral, told him he had better not go to sleep. That came as shock to him, I'm sure," McCain said.
Treamer said she plans to vote but hasn't yet settled on a candidate.
"I'm not a very political person so I have not made any decisions on anything," she said. "I've been following him because of the memories it brought to me."
The bracelet was engraved with Oct. 26, 1967, the date McCain was taken prisoner while serving in Vietnam.
McCain has come across similar bracelets while campaigning. During a March town hall-style meeting in Franklin, he met with Judy Tilton. As a child, Tilton wore a POW bracelet with McCain's name on it.
Tilton's father was a lieutenant colonel in the New Hampshire National Guard, and the family took the bracelets very seriously. She said she remembers seeing pictures of McCain after his release, standing in the doorway of an airplane and leaning on his crutches.
"This wonderful person when she was very, very young purchased a bracelet with my name on it," McCain said as Tilton held up the bracelet in March. "I want to thank you."
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Compiled by Philip Elliott.
