McCain was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for five and a half years, until his release on March 14, 1973, along with 108 other prisoners of war. His wartime injuries left him permanently incapable of raising his arms above his head. After the war, McCain, accompanied by his family and his second wife Cindy, returned to the site on a few occasions in efforts of trying to come to terms with what had happened to him there during his capture.