Saturday, September 1, 2018

Americans Bid John McCain Farewell With U.S. Capitol Honour



   Americans paid their final respects on Friday to John McCain as the national icon lay in state in the US Capitol as part of a momentous sendoff for the war hero and statesman. McCain’s widow Cindy, his seven children and his 106-year-old mother Roberta McCain joined scores of members of Congress, state governors, diplomats and other dignitaries to bid the senator farewell.

    President Donald Trump, who had feuded bitterly with McCain, was notably absent from the somber ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, an honour accorded to just 30 Americans throughout the nation’s history. The last visit to Washington by McCain who died last Saturday at age 81 after a yearlong battle with cancer  is being spread out over two days with former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama to eulogize him during a memorial service Saturday at the city’s National Cathedral.

   Just before 11:00 am (1500 GMT) Friday, a military honour guard carried the flag-draped casket up the Capitol stairs, moving one deliberate step at a time, while inside the Rotunda dark-suited mourners stood at silent attention. The silver-haired Roberta McCain  whose presence was only confirmed on the eve of the ceremony appeared composed as she drew near her son’s casket in a wheelchair, making the sign of the cross on her chest.

Seated beside her granddaughter Meghan McCain, she held the young woman’s hand and appeared to comfort her as she wept. Vice President Mike Pence who represented Trump at the ceremony  began his tribute with an address to McCain’s family, and particularly his mother.

   “It is deeply humbling to stand before you today at the United States Capitol to commemorate the life and service of an American patriot, Senator John McCain,” Pence said. “The president asked me to be here, on behalf of a grateful nation, to pay a debt of honour and respect to a man who served our country throughout his life, in uniform and in public office.” It was an awkward message to deliver from a president who has studiously refrained from praising McCain, either during his illness or since his death.

  Guests included former secretary of state Henry Kissinger, riding in a wheelchair at age 95; the actor Warren Beatty, a McCain friend; and former senator Joe Lieberman, who in 2008 McCain came close to naming as his running mate. The former aviator spent more than five years in a Vietnamese prison camp, returning home to launch a political career that saw him win the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. He will be buried Sunday at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

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