John McCain and his Mythical Birth Certificate

by nolu chanSeptember 20, 2009 As Michael Dobbs reported in his Washington Post Fact-Check, "the McCain campaign has declined to publiclyrelease the senator's birth certificate." No birth certificate, certificate of live birth, or even a JPEG image of anybirth document has ever been made public by John McCain.With the wailing and gnashing of teeth about the COLB produced by Obama, the pass previously given, andstill being given in some quarters to McCain, deserves a review.- - - - -http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/01/AR2008050103224_pf.htmlMichael Dobbs wrote in the Washington Post, Friday, May 2, 2008,"In his autobiography, "Faith of My Fathers," McCain writes that he was born "in the Canal Zone"at the U.S. Naval Air Station in Coco Solo, which was under the command of his grandfather, JohnS. McCain Sr.""A senior official of the McCain campaign showed a reporter a copy of the senator's birth certificateissued by Canal Zone health authorities, recording his birth in the Coco Solo "family hospital."In this version of events, McCain was allegedly born in the Canal Zone, on the U.S. Naval Air Station at CocoSolo, and is quite specific in referring to the command of McCain's grandfather, which was the Air Station.Dobbs refers to an unidentified McCain campaign official permitting "a reporter" a glimpse of what the stafferpurported was a birth certificate issued by "Canal Zone health authorities," not U.S. military authorities. "A reporter" is a curious anonymous description by Michael Dobbs of a reporter whom Michael Dobbs laterclaimed was Michael Dobbs.The "reporter" with the sneak peek at the document looked right at it and then repeated McCain'sautobiography assertion, that he was born at the Naval Air Station, without saying a mumbling word aboutthe Submarine Base. Since it became apparent that the Naval Air Station had no hospital, and apparently nodoctor assigned, the "hospital" description and location has morphed.No relevant record issued by Canal Zone health authorities has ever been released or discovered. The officialCanal Zone records are maintained in College Park, Maryland. McCain's birth is not recorded therein.- - - - -http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/john_mccains_birthplace.htmlFACT-CHECKER Michael Dobbs[excerpt]The Facts As I reported earlier, the McCain campaign has declined to publicly release the senator's birthcertificate. But a senior campaign official showed me a copy of his birth certificate issued by the"family hospital" in the Coco Solo submarine base. (McCain's grandfather commanded the CocoSolo Naval Air Station in 1936; his father was the executive officer of a submarine based in CocoSolo.)The birth certificate was signed by Captain W. L. Irvine. I have now checked that name against theNaval Register for 1936, and I find that William Lorne Irvine was director of the medical facility at

the submarine base hospital in Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone, during that time period. You cansee the entryhereI think

this

effectively disposes of any remaining doubts that McCain was borninside the Canal Zone.The senator's 96-year-old mother, Roberta McCain, recalled the occasion in a Mother's Day videoavailable here. She recalled "the 27 bottles of Scotch" stacked on a table of the nearby Officers'Club, gifts to her husband in celebration of the arrival of "the sweetest, nicest child I have everknown."- - - - - As noted by Michael Dobbs, the McCain campaign REFUSED to release a copy of any birth certificate. Ananonymous campaign official is reported to have shown a copy of something alleged to be a birth certificateto "a reporter." Dobbs subsequently asserted he was the reporter.No copy of a McCain birth certificate has ever been produced by McCain. A third generation senior navalofficer, McCain wrote that he was born on the Naval Air Station, of which his grandfather was thencommanding officer, not the Submarine Base. The Naval Hospital was not built at Coco Solo until the 1940's.There is not, and never has been, any such thing as a Navy "family hospital." Officially, in all military medicalfacilities, active duty military have priority of care.No official record, or image thereof, has ever been produced to show where and when John McCain was born.The nearest hospital was run by the Panama Canal Commission. It was located approximately 100 yardsoutside the CZ limits. Here we speak of a complete hospital with an operating theater.- - - - -THE DOCUMENT RELIED UPON BY MICHAEL DOBBS/FACT CHECK http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/documents/mccain_irvine_2.pdf http://www.scribd.com/full/19929202?access_key=key-e450k089hpcncxl3mdiWilliam Irvine is listed at #71.

The document linked by Michael Dobbs fails to support his contention - it does NOT show that William LorneIrvine was the director of a medical facility, or that the alleged "family hospital" existed. William Irvine heldthe old medical staff rank of Medical Director, equivalent to Captain. The old staff rank designators have beenabandoned.The Act of Mar. 3, 1871, established five grades in the Medical Corps of which two, medical director andmedical inspector, were higher than the grade of surgeon.The archaic rank structure of naval staff officers was not changed until Officer Personnel Act of 1947 (34U.S.C. 10a). William Irvine was NOT a Navy Captain as claimed by Michael Dobbs. There was no such thing asa U.S. Navy Medical Corps Captain in 1936. Medical Director Irvine was just that - his RANK was MedicalDirector. His rank designator no more documents Medical Director Irvine was a director of a non-existent Navyfamily hospital than does the title of Flight Surgeon Connie Rhodes indicate she does scalpel surgery in a non-existent operating theater on an aircraft (or elsewhere).http://law.justia.com/us/codes/title10/10usc5137.htmlIn subsection (a) the words "from officers on the active list of the Navy in the Medical Corps" aresubstituted for the words "from the list of Surgeons of the Navy" to conform to present statutory