Meghan McCain wants America to know about the issues veterans face and the skills veterans possess that can make them top performers at any business.
That’s why McCain, daughter of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is the host of “Return The Service,” a segment on Pivot TV’s “TakePart Live,” which airs weeknights. “Return The Service” allows “millennial” veterans to tell their own stories and asks viewers to give back to those who have served.
McCain’s family has a longstanding military tradition. Her father was a Navy pilot who was shot down during the Vietnam War. He refused his captors’ offers to release him ahead of other prisoners who had been held longer than him and spent five years as a POW. But she got a much deeper appreciation of military life when her younger brother Jimmy joined the Marine Corps at age 17. He later joined the Army and is now serving in Afghanistan.
In an Oct. 17 interview, McCain talked with Military Times about why being a veterans advocate is so important to her.
Q: Has “Return The Service” taught you anything new?
A. It … has re-emphasized to me how much work still needs to be done and how bored with [veterans’] stories the media seems to be. It’s a story I take great pride in bringing attention to. … A lot of people in the military feel unheard and feel like the media has lost interest in their struggle to re-acclimate into the civilian world. I’m surprised by things every day when I talk to veterans. I’m surprised how little our country gives back to them when they return and how hard it is for some of them to get medical care in the right way. I’m surprised how disappointed I can still be.
Q: Do you hope your audience is veterans or the general public?
A. I hope it’s the general public. People who don’t have connections to the military … I want them to hear the personal stories from the horse’s mouth. If you’re already a supporter of veterans or you’re already in the military, you’re most likely aware of the issues that face veterans when they return home.
Even the people I work with in LA, a lot of them have never had any real interaction with people in the military. So it’s nice to have them see a little bit of my family’s world.
Q: What things do veterans tell you people don’t understand about them?
A. The [Department of Veterans Affairs] scandal; jobs, the fact that there are so many unemployed. I’m still shocked at how many homeless veterans there are. To say we don’t support veterans nearly enough when they return home is putting it so lightly. The public needs to be made more aware that we have to support our veterans when they come home — not just for six months; for their entire lives — and understand that if you have military training, you already have leadership skills; so you really can work in any kind of environment.
Q: Have veterans told you why employers are so reluctant to hire them?
A. I think there are stigmas about, maybe, PTSD [post- traumatic stress disorder]. I don’t understand it at all because, obviously, it was important to me for us to hire a veteran on our staff. All I know is my experience I have with my brothers and their friends. If I need something done quickly and efficiently and I’m in trouble, I’m calling [them]. I think they’re just good in high pressure situations and they understand how to get it done without bullsh—— around.
Q: How has your father’s experience inspired you to care for veterans?
A. There’s no way to even sum that up. My father and his parents — his father and his grandfather — I’m just so proud of their legacy. I get to live my life every day the way I want to because of what men and women are doing to give me this freedom. So I just have the utmost respect for what they do, but I also want to bring awareness because I feel like they sacrifice so I get to live this crazy life every day — because they are giving up their freedoms for mine.
BONUS FACT
Growing up, Meghan McCain knew that her father had been tortured by the North Vietnamese while he was a prisoner of war, but it wasn’t until she saw the 2005 television movie “Faith of My Fathers,” based on his book, that she fully understood his ordeal.
