McCain was burned in the USS Forrestal disaster when a missile fired by mistake striking his aircraft that was fueled, armed and ready to launch. He also got shrapnel in his leg and back when bombs on his aircraft exploded.

The resulting fire and following cook off of the bombs resulted in something like 130ish sailors being killed.

After returning to service he was shot down over Hanoi and broke both his arms and legs when his parachute opened late and he fell into a lake in Hanoi. The mob that drug him from the lake woke him, then crushed his shoulder and bayoneted his foot. After that he got to spend over five years in a POW camp being beaten and tortured on a fairly regular basis.