Keeping the Faith

"Faith of My Fathers" is not only the title of the book, but is also a common theme. It refers to faith in comrades, faith in oneself, faith in country, and faith in God. John McCain was inspired by his father's demonstrations of faith as he slipped away quietly on a daily basis to spend time praying. John is also inspired by his father's and grandfather's faith in the United States.

During his time as prisoner in Vietnam, John discovered that keeping faith in God, country, and each other with not only difficult, but it was imperative to survival. The Vietnamese knew this and tried in many different ways to break the prisoners' faith. They beat them, talked to them, and gave them false information so that they would think that others had abandoned them. The psychological warfare threatened to defeat many prisoners, but not those...