When the Republican National Convention opens in Minneapolis-St. Paul in September, the presumptive presidential nominee Sen. John McCain will not be the only one there who was held prisoner of war at North Vietnam’s notorious “Hanoi Hilton.”

Lee Ellis, a Georgia 9th District alternate delegate, was also a POW at the Hanoi prison where Mr. McCain was held for several years. From that shared trauma has grown a respect for the presidential hopeful, Mr. Lee said.

“The senator really did come under fire when he was shot down in Vietnam in 1967 and he sustained serious injuries,” Mr. Ellis said recently.

The enemy knew who the Navy officer was, and that his father was an admiral. But Sen. McCain refused an offer from the North Vietnamese in 1968 that he be returned to the United States and leave his fellow captives.

That is the kind of resolve that is needed in a president, Mr. Ellis said.

“He doesn’t take the easy way out like many politicians,” he said about Sen. McCain today. “He looks at what’s good for the country and not what’s best for him. He exhibited that trait in the Vietnamese prison, and his reward was another four years plus as a POW until we were released in 1973.”

Mr. Ellis noted: “Selecting a tested leader as president is very important, and we need to evaluate leadership qualities for this country in difficult times.”

Kevin Harris, chairman of the Republican Party for Georgia’s 9th Congressional District, said Mr. Ellis can speak about heroes. He said he was honored to meet Mr. Ellis at the recent district delegate selection meeting.

“Mr. Ellis commands people’s respect,” Mr. Harris said. “You can tell there is something special about him. When his name came up as an alternate delegate to the convention, he was a unanimous choice.”

Mr. Ellis was a first lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force when his aircraft shot down in November 1967. Sen. McCain was a naval officer and a pilot when he too was shot down over enemy territory and captured a few days later.

He said Mr. McCain suffered two broken arms, a broken leg and other serious injuries when his jet was shot down.

Mr. Ellis, now “a young 64,” said he retired with the rank of colonel and is now senior vice president of RightPath Resources Inc. in Cumming, Ga.

“The North Vietnamese held Mr. McCain in virtual solitary confinement for two years after he declined to be released,” Mr. Ellis said. “They also re-broke one arm.”

During much of his confinement, Mr. Ellis said he was in a room with about 50 American POWs, and Mr. McCain was in another room about 30 feet away that held another 40 to 45 POWs, Mr. Ellis said.

“I see him at our POW reunions every year,” he said. “I was in charge of a reunion in San Antonio in the late 1970s and he had to plan the next year’s reunion in California.”

Mr. Ellis said Mr. McCain has always been a people person.

“You may not agree with him on every issue, but he’s basically conservative,” he said. “I lived with him in an open compound in Hanoi for our last six weeks of captivity. That’s when I got to know him well.”

Mr. Ellis said faith was critical to his own survival. He said the military culture of discipline and camaraderie were other keys that led to the survival of American POWs, and laid a foundation that can produce good leadership.

“Mr. McCain’s strong point is being a strong leader who believes in sacrifice and commitment,” Mr. Ellis said.

FAST FACT

Lee Ellis was a POW at the Hanoi prison where John McCain was held for several years.