McCain rejects Carter claim he is 'milking' Vietnam service ( Archived) (2)

Republican White House candidate John McCain on Sunday rejected a comment by former president Jimmy Carter that he was "milking" his Vietnam war heroism for political gain.

Carter said in a USA Today interview on the sidelines of the Democratic convention in Denver last week that McCain had been "milking every possible drop of advantage" from his time as a prisoner of war.

But McCain said his five-and-a-half years as a prisoner after his navy jet was shot down over Vietnam in 1967 had been crucial to forging his character.

"I have great respect for former president Carter, but it's not first time we have disagreed," McCain said on Fox News Sunday.

"I don't think most Americans share that view.

"In fact, most of my supporters say talk more about your experiences, they were formative experiences."

"We have to judge people's character and my character, a great part of that formation of that character took place in a prison camp."

In the interview with USA Today, Carter said that McCain was able to bring the conversation around to his war service, whatever the question.

"It's much better than talking about how he's changed his total character between being a senator, a kind of a maverick, and his acquiescence in the last few months with every kind of lobbyist pressure that the right-wing Republicans have presented."

McCain was tortured by his captors in the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" prison camp and was so badly beaten that he still cannot raise his arms above his head to comb his hair.

The scion of a respected Navy family, McCain refused several offers of an early release which would have seen him freed ahead of others in a propaganda boon to the Vietnamese.