Thu, Nov 26 2009
|
|
McCain POW bracelet offers bridge to past “I had a lot of friends that went to Vietnam,” she said. “Some did (return home). Some did not. I guess that is why we wanted to wear the bracelets.”
And Wood wore hers: to school, in the bath and to bed. Every week the newspaper from Council Grove would publish a list of those POWs who had been released, and every week Wood said she looked for McCain’s name. When she finally saw that he had been released in March 1973, she took the bracelet off. After wearing it for several years, it was “almost like losing a part of you,” she said. Through the years Wood kept the bracelet, usually in jewelry boxes, saying that for some reason she could not throw it away. It was not until the 1990s, when she saw McCain introducing former senator and Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole, that she connected the John McCain on her bracelet with John McCain the statesman. But Wood said the bracelet has piqued the interest of her son, friends, co-workers and others in the wake of McCain’s presidential bid. Wood said she only brought it up in passing while talking with co-workers once. “Everybody wanted to see it,” she said. “I didn’t think much about it.” Last week, she was invited by Rep. Kevin Wilson, R-Neosho, to a meeting of the McDonald County Republican Club. After the meeting, everyone crowded around to see, touch and talk about the bracelet. “It’s a tangible piece of history,” Wilson said in a phone interview. Although she does not wear the bracelet on her arm nowadays, Wood said she carries it around and plans to keep it. “Right now it stays in my pocket a lot,” she said. “I imagine it will end up with my son.” A look into history 
•
Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.
More from the Local News section
Canine ‘pawsengers’ take inaugural pet rescue flight Fourth Street scheduled to reopen Funeral for soldier killed in Afghanistan scheduled in Galena |
Print this story
E-mail this story
Post to del.icio.us
Discuss this story
Photographer documents struggle with cystic fibrosis w/ slide show and link to National Transplant Assistance Fund page
 |
 |
: Special Offer For New Subscribers
:
 |
|||||||
|
|||||||
 |
|
|
Published by Newspaper Holding, Inc. 117 East Fourth Street, Joplin, MO 64801 Using our site is your agreement to the terms and conditions. News: news@joplinglobe.com • (417)623-3480 Advertise with the Joplin Globe Copyright © 2006 The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO All rights reserved. 
|
Popular Business directory links - Joplin Apartments | Joplin Attorneys | Joplin Auto Dealers | Joplin Auto Parts | Joplin Auto Repair | Joplin Beauty Salons | Joplin Car Rental | Joplin Dentists | Joplin Doctors | Joplin Flowers | Joplin Hotels | Joplin Insurance | Joplin Loans | Joplin Mortgages | Joplin Movers | Joplin Pizza | Joplin Realtors | Joplin Restaurants | Joplin Storage | Joplin Tax Preparation | Joplin Travel | Joplin Featured | More...
|
|
Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. • CNHI Classified Advertising Network • CNHI News Service |
