After a week of bipartisan tribute, McCain is laid to rest
WASHINGTON, United States — A nearly weeklong celebration of the life of US senator John McCain -- war hero, maverick, two-time presidential candidate and outspoken critic of Donald Trump -- came to a solemn and subdued end Sunday as he was laid to rest at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
McCain, who died August 25 aged 81 after a year-long struggle against brain cancer, was interred in a private ceremony in the academy's grassy cemetery overlooking the Severn River.
McCain, the son and grandson of four-star admirals, graduated from the naval academy in 1958.
Large crowds lined the road to pay their respects as the funeral cortege carrying McCain's flag-draped casket passed by. Some saluted or held signs paying tribute. One woman shouted out, "God bless America!"
"I watched them lay my friend to rest today. I will miss him," Senator Jeff Flake tweeted Sunday along with a photo of him and McCain, in which the former pilot wore a Navy hat.
A day after a nationally televised memorial service at Washington's National Cathedral brought together a remarkable gathering of luminaries from both parties -- including three former presidents, but not the current one -- Sunday's ceremony was designed more as a family affair, including the military family to which McCain proudly belonged.
His casket was taken to the Naval Academy's chapel for a private ceremony, at which General David Petraeus, Senator Lindsey Graham and McCain's son Jack delivered tributes.
Pallbearers included US defense secretary James Mattis; rear admiral and former naval academy superintendent Thomas Lynch; Admiral John Richardson; and two men -- Everett Alvarez Jr. and Jon Fer -- who were prisoners of war in Vietnam along with McCain.
Buried alongside best friend
The casket was then carried to its final resting place by a horse-drawn caisson, with white-clad US Navy personnel lining the road and saluting as it passed, according to photos released by McCain's family.
The senator was buried next to his best friend from Annapolis days, Chuck Larson, who died in 2014. Larson and McCain were roommates through navy flight school, and Larson went on to become the second-youngest admiral in navy history and an academy superintendent.
McCain, a lifelong rebel who graduated near the bottom of his class, had planned a military career. But after his fighter jet was shot down over Vietnam, leaving him with lifelong injuries, he ultimately left the military and turned to politics, representing Arizona in the US Congress for 35 years.
He ran unsuccessfully for president twice, in 2000 and 2008.
The week's memorials, planned mostly by McCain himself in his final year of life, often seemed crafted to draw a contrast between the senator and a man of very different temperament and values with whom he often feuded: Donald Trump.
The president, pointedly excluded from all the McCain events, had a difficult week.
He was widely criticized for keeping White House flags at half staff for only a day, and then reversed the order. A new Washington Post/ABC poll showed Trump's disapproval rating at an all-time high of 60 percent. And critics panned him for playing golf during Saturday's solemn event.
In Annapolis, Sam Smith, a 71-year-old retired federal employee, was among those saluting McCain's cortege as it passed.
"We just feel that he's somebody we admire," he told the Capital Gazette of Annapolis. "He was always a champion of the people."
Presidents, lawmakers from both parties and nations have mourned the death of Sen. John McCain of Arizona, honoring his decades of service to the United States.
President Donald Trump, who criticized McCain for being taken prisoner during the Vietnam War, says his "deepest sympathies and respect" went out to McCain's family.
McCain died at his ranch in Arizona after a yearlong battle with brain cancer. On Saturday night, a black hearse accompanied by a police motorcade could be seen driving away from the ranch near Sedona where he spent his final weeks. — AP; Photo from the US Embassy in Estonia
John McCain is getting a presidential farewell, but not from the actual sitting president.
At McCain's request, former Presidents Barack Obama, a Democrat, and George W. Bush, a Republican, are speaking about the six-term senator at Washington National Cathedral. It is the last event in Washington, where McCain lived and worked over four decades, and part of McCain's five-day, cross-country funeral procession. He died Aug. 25 at age 81.
President Donald Trump was told to stay away, but he won't be far. The president is expected to remain in Washington this weekend. — AP
Authorities say more than 7,500 people have paid their respects to U.S. Sen. John McCain at a public viewing at the Arizona Capitol.
Bart Graves of the Arizona Department of Public Safety gave the figure for the number of mourners who had been filing by the casket since the area opened to the public.
People stood in line for hours in the Phoenix heat, carrying umbrellas and sipping cold water. The National Weather Service says the high in Phoenix was 104 degrees.
Authorities say several people waiting outside the Arizona Capitol were overcome by extreme heat. DPS officials say two people were transported Wednesday to a hospital, and several others were treated at the scene in the span of an hour. — AP
Authorities say at least 1,500 people have paid their respects to U.S. Sen. John McCain at a public viewing at the Arizona Capitol.
Bart Graves of the Arizona Department of Public Safety gave the figure for the number of mourners who had been filing by the casket since the area opened to the public Wednesday afternoon.
People stood in line for hours in the Phoenix heat, carrying umbrellas and sipping cold water. The National Weather Service says the high in Phoenix was 104 degrees.
The viewing came after a private ceremony for McCain's family members and fellow politicians that marked the first of two days of official mourning in Arizona.
A memorial service will be held Thursday at a Phoenix church. McCain's body will be taken to Washington for a viewing and service Friday and then burial at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. — AP
President Donald Trump breaks his near-silence to recognize the late Sen. John McCain's "service to our country" and orders flags at the White House lowered in honor of his fellow Republican. — AP
Sen. Francis Pangilinan says Sen. McCain was a model in leadership, having "responded to and faced the call of history both in sodiery and in politics."
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