Published: March 29, 2008 10:20 pm      

Meridianite remembers John McCain

"They worked hard, they flew hard, and they partied hard."

That's how Meridianite Morele Rosenfeld remembers the officers from the Meridian Naval Air Station back in the 1960's — including now U.S. Senator and presidential hopeful John McCain, who was a flight instructor there for three years.

"The John McCain that you know on television is not the John McCain that I knew," said Rosenfeld. "In his earlier life he was quite a party boy."

The term party boy can bring up some rather un-dignified imagery, but McCain was a party boy in the sense that he was fun-loving and outgoing, Rosenfeld said, "He was handsome. He was fun. He was, he never met a stranger in his whole life ... He can be extremely dignified, but he's fun loving."

Monday the Senator kicks off his “Service to America Tour” in Meridian to focus on his vision for America’s future.

McCain has deep roots in Mississippi with several generations born in Carroll County on land that had been in his family since 1848. The last McCain to live on the property was John McCain's grandfather's brother, Joe McCain.

"As a young boy I spent a couple summers in Mississippi visiting my Uncle Joe," McCain said. "My father’s naval career required us to move frequently, but here I could imagine what it must have been like for the McCains who came before me to be so connected to one place.”

Meridian Naval Air Station named McCain Air Field for John McCain's grandfather, John Sidney "Slew" McCain.

John McCain's great-grandfather was Carroll County Sheriff and his brother, Henry Pinkney McCain, was a major general in the U.S. Army. He organized the draft for World War I. Camp McCain in Grenada is named for him.

McCain is scheduled to speak at the MSU-Riley Center for Education and the Performing Arts in downtown Meridian Monday at 8:45 a.m., and some sources report that he will be appearing at the Wings Over Meridian air show today at Naval Air Station Meridian's McCain field.

Maureen Lofton, assistant for governmental affairs said CNN will broadcast live from Dumont Plaza this afternoon as part of the coverage of McCain's visit.

Monday’s speech, according to officials with McCain's campaign, will describe his family's lifetime of service. He will recount the traditions of duty, honor and sacrifice that shaped him from an early age. He will also detail his thoughts on the ways government should support — not complicate — parents' ability to raise their children and pass along their values and principles.

One of Rosenfeld's favorite memories of McCain when he was in Meridian is when he commentated for fashion shows put on by wive's clubs at the Navy base.

"He didn't know much about style and fashion, but he could sell more merchandise than I could if I stood on my head. And I'm a pretty good salesperson."

Rosenfeld and her husband, Lewis, were the only civilians in a military supper club that included McCain and his then wife, Carol. She says that McCain's visit to Meridian "brings back the very good times all of us had together."

At the time, Rosenfeld had a young daughter, Karen, who, being excited to know a person who had some celebrity status because of his time as a Prisoner of War, collected newspaper clippings and other memorabilia of McCain.

Rosenfeld said many of McCain's friends thought he would never get married, so much so that his wife kept their wedding pictures in the guest bathroom.

"She knew that they would eventually wind up in the bathroom, and that was her way of making sure their guests knew that they were married."

It was a surprise to many, Rosenfeld said, that McCain became a politician, "everybody thought that he was going to continue in the footsteps of his father and his grandfather, who were both admirals," she said.

But after McCain sustained permanent injuries as a POW in Vietnam, Rosenfeld said, "I think he realized there was no way he was going to make admiral ... But it looks like he's going to do them one better," she cheerfully added, "He's going to be commander in chief."

Although Rosenfeld wouldn't have predicted that McCain's career would include anything but military service, she said she wasn't surprised to hear that he had become a U.S. Senator. "John could do anything he set his mind to do, which is evidenced by the fact that he survived what he survived."

Rosenfeld said she would not have expected McCain to make a campaign stop in Meridian, but can understand why he would. "His first daughter was born here," she said, and, "Well, let's face it, he had an awfully good time."

She also said she doesn't believe McCain has changed as much over the years as he appears to have done on television.

"He's military through and through in his training," she said, "He says the right thing at the right time. But I can't imagine that with his close friends he doesn't let his hair down like he used to."