An airman being captured by Vietnamese in Truc Bach Lake, Hanoi in 1967. The airman is John McCain.

An airman being captured by Vietnamese in Truc Bach Lake, Hanoi in 1967. The airman is John McCain.

John McCain Captured. Near Hanoi, North Vietnam: This photo, showing an unidentified man being pulled out of a lake, was radioed to Tokyo, October 27, by the North Vietnamese government. In a broadcast, October 27, Radio Hanoi reported that an American pilot identified as Lieutenant Commander John Sidney McCain, U.S.N., was rescued from Truc Bach Lake near Hanoi, October 26, after parachuting from his crippled aircraft, which had been hit by North Vietnamese ground fire. The broadcast said that McCain had been pulled from the water by North Vietnamese soldiers, treated for injuries and jailed. October 26, 1967.

Fair use applies here. This photo documents a very significant event in the life of John McCain, an important public figure and politician. His captivity in Vietnam as a prisoner of war is described in his article as well as Early life and military career of John McCain. No free image of this event is known to exist, nor can one be created, as the photo documents a historical event. Image copyright must be assumed to belong to the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, as it is internationally recognized as the legal successor to the former government of North Vietnam that published this photo. The photograph was taken in 1967 and it will become public domain by 2018 as Vietnamese law specifies that photographs remain under copyright protection for 50 years;