John McCain: Prisoner of War | When Your Luck Runs Out | 1
Against The Odds
Audible
4.7 • 7.9K Ratings
🗓️ 27 April 2021
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It's 1967, and American Naval Pilot John McCain is on a bombing mission in the midst of the Vietnam War when he’s shot down by the enemy. After surviving the crash, he’s taken in as a prisoner of war and housed at the infamous Hanoi Hilton. This is the epic story of his journey to survive five and half years in captivity.
For more reading, we recommend Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton: Six Characteristics of High-Performance Teams by Taylor Baldwin Kiland.
Listen early and ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/againsttheodds.
Support us by supporting our sponsors!
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey, Prime members, you can listen to Against the Odds at Free on Amazon Music. Download the app today. |
| 0:06.6 | This episode of Against the Odds contains explicit language and depictions of violence. Please be advised. |
| 0:21.6 | It's the middle of the night on October 26, 1967. |
| 0:26.0 | An American pilot with tussled hair and a sharp jaw wakes up confused in a dark and cold room. |
| 0:33.0 | His name is John McCain. He's on the ground, wearing nothing but his underwear. |
| 0:38.0 | He looks around the tiny room. The concrete wall has a stain of dried blood on it. |
| 0:43.0 | Water drips from the leaking ceiling like a metronome. Is it a prison cell? He leans on his elbow to get up. |
| 0:50.0 | A bolt of pain shoots through his right arm and then again when he tries to move his left arm, he's an agony and he's all alone. |
| 0:59.0 | How did I get here? |
| 1:01.0 | And then it all comes back. It's the middle of the Vietnam War. His plane's been shot out of the sky. |
| 1:09.0 | And now he's a prisoner of war. Two guards enter yelling in Vietnamese. |
| 1:15.0 | John has no idea what they're saying, but he doesn't need a translator to know that they're angry. |
| 1:20.0 | A third guard enters, carrying an old stretcher that he places next to John. |
| 1:25.0 | They bend down and roll him onto it. It hurts like hell. |
| 1:29.0 | John clenches his teeth and closes his eyes so that he doesn't scream. He doesn't want these men to think he's weak. |
| 1:36.0 | They carry him out of the cell and then outdoors. |
| 1:40.0 | John squints trying to adjust his eyes to the light of day. It looks like they're in a courtyard surrounding them are a group of squat buildings. |
| 1:49.0 | They enter another building and then drop them on the floor. Another bolt of pain pierces through John's body. |
| 1:56.0 | This new room is larger and the dried blood stains on the wall are bigger too. |
| 2:02.0 | Standing in the center of the room are two Vietnamese men. One looks like a general. Tall, stern, his posture ramrod straight. |
| 2:12.0 | The other is short and overweight. He lurks behind the general. Timid. |
| 2:18.0 | The taller man speaks to John and the shorter man steps forward to translate. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Audible, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Audible and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.