Nation & World

<< Previous   of   Next >> (click to enlarge) Associated Press In this Sept. 14, 1973 photo, John McCain (right) is greeted by President Richard Nixon in Washington after McCain spent more than five years in a Vietnamese prisoner of war camp. He was released in March 1973.   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • Local delegates ready for GOP convention 9/1/08 • GOP cuts back convention to defer to Gustav 9/1/08 • How Hurricane Gustav could affect Republicans 9/1/08   CONTACT THE HERALD Do you have a news tip? newstips@heraldnet.com | 425.339.3400   Published: Monday, September 1, 2008 Delegate says he was a POW with McCain Associated Press VAIL, Colo. -- One of the 46 delegates Colorado is sending the Republican National Convention is a former Air Force pilot who says he was imprisoned with John McCain during the Vietnam War. Tom Kirk, 79, said he was shot down in Vietnam in 1967, the same year McCain, a Navy pilot, was. Kirk said he spent two years in solitary confinement at a prison in Hanoi and then was moved to a large room with McCain and about 40 other prisoners of war. He said he spent several months there with McCain and was later released in 1973. Kirk, a financial consultant who moved to the Vail area in 1992, had no political experience when he went to the state Republican convention in Broomfield in May. The retired colonel told the crowd that he had been McCain's cell mate, that he believed in him and wanted to work for McCain. He received more votes than any other delegate and has spent the last few months campaigning for McCain around Colorado. "I've watched him under very adverse situations be as strong as steel in what he believes in, holding up well and taking torture to not reveal things he believes in," Kirk said. Kirk and 11 other former Vietnam prisoners of war are scheduled to meet with McCain during the convention in St. Paul, Minn.

1. Fire destroys Emory's restaurant 2. Man dies in apparent suicide on Edmonds beach 3. Camano Island burglaries spike: Is Colton back? 4. Storm dents Tulalip couple's retirement plan 5. For many cougars, it's one night only 6. Lulu the St. Bernard helps out with crossing guard job 7. Business Briefly: L.A. man gets prison for repackaging Boeing 737 plane parts 8. Sultan man charged with assault for firing at deputy 9. Peggy Pritchard Olson always put Edmonds first 10. Emory's blaze causes $2 million in damage 2 - Top 10 Stories Most Talked about 3 - Top 10 Stories Most Emailed

• Bazaar Fever • Hawks proud of historic season • Olson always put Edmonds first • Honoring student veterans • ‘Wheedle' author comes to Lynnwood bookshop • Mavs build early lead en route to easy win • Prep football games of the week (state playoffs) • Tears of laughter, tears of grief • Death on Edmonds beach likely a suicide • Boeing will build, flight test and deliver 787s in South Carolina to spe ... • Snohomish County EDC promoting job growth in key industry clusters • $4 million grant to advance brain tumor research has Everett links • Providence medical center construction tops off its 12-story steel frame ... • Tulalip affordable housing project to be financed by KeyBank, Raymond Ja ... • Arlington's Lak of Ink has a growing following for Luke Kooyman's creati ... • Bank of the Northwest formed • Cascade Bank earns $1.6 million