John S. McCain, Sr. facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John S. McCain, Sr.
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| Birth name | John Sidney McCain |
| Nickname(s) | "Slew" |
| Born | August 9, 1884 Carroll County, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Died | September 6, 1945 (aged 61) Coronado, California, U.S. |
| Place of burial |
Arlington National Cemetery
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| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service/ |
 United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1906–1945 |
| Rank |  Admiral |
| Commands held | USS Ranger Air Forces for Western Sea Frontier and the South Pacific Force Bureau of Aeronautics Second Fast Carrier Force Task Group 38.1 Task Force 38 |
| Battles/wars | World War I World War II
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| Awards | Navy Cross Navy Distinguished Service Medal (3) |
John Sidney "Slew" McCain Sr. (August 9, 1884 – September 6, 1945) was a U.S. Navy admiral. He held several command assignments during the Pacific campaign of World War II. McCain was a pioneer of aircraft carrier operations. Serving in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, in 1942 he commanded all land-based air operations in support of the Guadalcanal campaign, and in 1944-45 he aggressively led the Fast Carrier Task Force.
His operations off the Philippines and Okinawa and air strikes against Formosa and the Japanese home islands caused tremendous destruction of Japanese naval and air forces in the closing period of the war. He died four days after the formal Japanese surrender ceremony.
Early life, education, and family
McCain was born in Carroll County, Mississippi, the son of plantation owner John Sidney McCain (1851–1934) and wife Elizabeth-Ann Young (1855–1922), who married in 1877.
He attended the University of Mississippi for two years, where he joined the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, and then decided to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point, where his brother William Alexander McCain was enrolled. To practice for its entrance exams, he decided to take the ones for the United States Naval Academy; when he passed those and earned an appointment, he decided to attend there instead. In doing so, he would leave behind his Mississippi plantation and adopt the Navy's itinerant life.
At the Naval Academy he failed his annual physical on account of defective hearing, but the condition was waived due to the great need for officers. When he graduated in 1906, he ranked 79th out of 116 in his class.
McCain, Sr. was married to Catherine Davey Vaulx at Colorado Springs, Colorado from 1909 until his death in 1945. They had one child.
Death and legacy
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McCain died on September 6, 1945 in Coronado, California from a heart attack, aged 61. His death was front-page news. McCain was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Several of McCain's descendants have also graduated from the United States Naval Academy. He and his son, Admiral John S. McCain Jr. were the first father-son pair ever to achieve four-star admiral rank in the U.S. Navy. The latter's son is sitting U.S. Senator from Arizona and 2008 Republican presidential nominee Navy Captain John S. McCain III, whose son, John S. McCain IV currently serves.
McCain Field, the operations center at Naval Air Station Meridian, Mississippi, was named in his honor.
The guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DL-3) (in service 1953–1978) was named for him, and the destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) (in service 1994–present) was named for both of the Admirals John S. McCain.
Images for kids
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McCain as a young ensign listens to President Theodore Roosevelt as he stands on a gun turret to address the officers and men of the USS Connecticut (BB-18), upon its return as a part of the Great White Fleet in February 1909 in Hampton Roads, Virginia
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McCain's Rear Admiral nomination
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Vice Admiral McCain (L) and Admiral William Halsey, Commander of the Third Fleet, hold conference on board battleship New Jersey en route to the Philippines in December 1944.
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Admiral McCain (R) with Admiral William Halsey on the battleship Missouri on September 2, 1945, shortly after the ceremony in which Japan surrendered, ending World War II.
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John S. "Slew" McCain Sr. and John S. "Jack" McCain Jr., on board a U.S. Navy ship in Tokyo Bay, c. September 2, 1945. The senior McCain died four days later.
