HONOLULU -- GOP hopeful Sen. John McCain had many connections to Hawaii during the Vietnam War, including a romantic experience in Waikiki that changed the course of his life.

McCain met second wife, Cindy, almost 30 years ago at a military reception in Honolulu. She was visiting Hawaii with her parents.

After, McCain invited Cindy to join him for drinks at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. McCain wrote in his book, "By the end of the evening I was in love."

"He met his wife here and he also honeymooned here. I think that says it all about how significant Hawaii is," McCain's friend Susan Page said.

McCain began an affair with Cindy when he was still married to his first wife, Carol Shepp, the mother of their three children.

Aiea resident Jerry Coffee said marital problems were common for returning POWs.

"You know that happened to a lot of us. The dynamics of that long, long separation and we all came home knowing it wouldn't be easy," Coffee said.

In six months, McCain divorced his first wife and married Cindy.

Since then, the McCains have returned to Hawaii often to vacation on Maui and the Big Island.

"The first thing he does, if he didn't have an aloha shirt to bring with him, the first thing he does is goes out and buys one so he will be in style," Coffee said.

Coffee said he expected McCain will have special aloha at the Republican National Convention for the Hawaii delegation.

"Because we are going to stand out in our aloha shirts, for starters, and it will be a reminder to him of all he good times he has had here with his wife and his family, and the times when his father was here and the really challenging times for him and his family," Coffee said.