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McCAIN TALKS LEADERS TO MERCHANT MARINES

June 19, 2007

Newsday
By Olivia Winslow
Sen. John McCain, a decorated Navy officer who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, drew on the hardship of those years and from what he learned as a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy in the 1950s as he talked about leadership yesterday to more than 200 graduates at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point.

"I've had the good fortune to have known many exemplary leaders in my time, and I'm familiar with their qualities," the Republican presidential hopeful said during the graduation ceremony at the Merchant Marine Academy's Brooks Stadium.

McCain's father and grandfather were four-star admirals who he said possessed leadership qualities "in abundance."

His father, John S. McCain Jr., visited the Merchant Marine Academy in 1966, and the academy yesterday presented McCain with a framed photograph of his father's long-ago visit. And mindful of the Arizona senator's time on the campaign trail as he seeks the Republican presidential nomination, Class of 2007 President Tyler Stutin presented McCain with an engraved iPod filled with patriotic and nautical songs and audio books on leadership.

Academy midshipman graduating yesterday came from 38 states. Six graduates came from the Republic of Panama, and one of them, Felix Ayarza Becerra, graduated summa cum laude with a 3.9 grade point average and was valedictorian. Ayarza, who received a standing ovation from fellow graduates, recalled the rigorous academic and physical challenges of the academy, which he said "tested our character every day."

McCain, who had a 22-year career as a Navy aviator before entering politics, described himself as a "discipline problem" when he was in the naval academy. As a result, he said "few if any of my superiors at the academy saw in me the faintest hint of any leadership ability."

But one instructor, Lt. Cmdr. Eugene Farrell, the captain of the old U.S.S. Hunt, where McCain served on sea duty during his academy training, saw McCain's potential.

"I made more than a few mistakes," McCain said, "and every time I screwed up, the skipper would explode, let loose an impressive blast of profanity, and order me off the bridge." But minutes later, McCain said, the captain would calmly explain to McCain what he'd done wrong.

"It was a wonderful time," he recalled. "Commander Farrell taught me leadership by trusting me with responsibility and showing me how to shoulder it under pressure."

McCain also spoke of the servicemen of "extraordinary character" he served with while a prisoner of war - men he said endured brutal treatment but never sacrificed loyalty to their country or their integrity.

"That is the sense of responsibility that makes you a good leader," he said. "That, my friends, is character."






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