WASHINGTON — Events honoring the late Sen. John McCain began with a procession Saturday morning starting at the U.S. Capitol and ending at the Washington National Cathedral, with a stop at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Around 8:40 a.m., McCain’s body was carried down the steps of the Capitol to a motorcade, which took him to the Cathedral after a brief stop at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
The public was invited to line up along Constitution Avenue as the motorcade made its way to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where McCain’s wife, Cindy McCain, laid a ceremonial wreath in honor of those killed during the war. See a map of the procession route here.
John Scully of Alexandria was at the memorial his wife and three kids. “My dad was a Midshipman at the Naval Academy when McCain was shot down, so I think he and all the other prisoners in the Hanoi Hilton were heroes to my dad and his classmates from that time, and had a lot of respect for him and his service, sacrifice, his decision to refuse early release. He served his country for decades.”
“I grew up learning about him and considered him a hero too for his service in the war and after. I wanted my kids to know who John McCain was and what he stands for,” Scully said.
Remembering John McCain – Curated tweets by WTOP
The memorial service at the cathedral began at 10 a.m. Speakers included McCain’s family, friends, colleagues and other invited guests.
Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush spoke during the service, along with Sen. Lindsey Graham, former Sen. Joe Lieberman and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. See the full list of speakers and memorials from the service.
Former President George W. Bush talked about McCain as a man who was unafraid to stand up to those who would abuse their power and said that presidents were no exception. Bush said that after their time butting heads as a president and a senator came to an end, their relationship changed.
“In the end I got to enjoy one of life’s great gifts: the friendship of John McCain. And I miss him,” Bush said. “He loved freedom with the passion of a man who knew its absence.”
Barrack Obama remembered McCain as a passionate political opponent who was unafraid to stand up to those in power. He spoke about the often mentioned moment on the 2008 campaign trail, when McCain defended Obama’s patriotism when one of McCain’s supporters expressed doubts about his nationality and religion.
“I was grateful, but I wasn’t surprised,” Obama said. “It was John’s instinct. I never saw John treat anyone differently — regardless of their race, religion or gender.”
“May God bless John McCain,” He said. “May God bless this country that he served so well.”
McCain’s daughter, Meghan McCain, eulogized her father’s death as “the passing of American greatness,” directing her message squarely at President Donald Trump and encouraging others to live up to her father’s example.
Her tearful, impassioned tribute opened the memorial service for John McCain at Washington National Cathedral. It set a tone echoing her father’s own passion.
She said they “gather here to mourn the passing of American greatness — the real thing, not cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice he gave so willingly, nor the opportunistic appropriation of those who lived lives of comfort and privilege while he suffered and served.”
She said to applause, “The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again because America was always great.”
Kissinger spoke on McCain’s legacy from his years in the Navy. He also touched on the sacrifices McCain made while imprisoned in the “Hanoi Hilton”, where he spent five years as a prisoner of war.
“John’s focus was on creating a better future,” Kissinger said. “As a senator he supported the restoration of relations with Vietnam. He helped bring it about on a bipartisan basis in the Clinton administration and became one of the candidates of reconciliation with his erstwhile enemy.”
The pallbearers who helped carry the coffin at the cathedral included actor Warren Beatty, former Vice President Joe Biden and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
McCain arrived Thursday in the D.C. area after a memorial service in Arizona and lying in state at the state capitol earlier this week.
Throughout Friday, McCain was lying in state at the U.S. Capitol where a number of lawmakers honored the six-term senator from Arizona and former Republican presidential candidate. Only a small number of Americans have lain in state or honor at the U.S. Capitol since the rotunda was completed in 1824.
House Speaker Paul Ryan called McCain “one of the bravest souls our nation has ever produced.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the former prisoner of war embodied “America’s fighting spirit,” and called McCain a friend.
“We gather here to honor an American patriot,” Vice President Mike Pence said Friday during the ceremony at the Capitol Rotunda. “John McCain served his country, and John McCain served his country honorably.”
After the Friday ceremony, crowds of people who had lined up outside the U.S. Capitol in the D.C. humidity made their way into the rotunda to pay their respects to the late senator.
Beverly Kalish, 89, had traveled from New York to file past McCain’s coffin. Kalish told The Associated Press, “I respect him for what he gave for this country. He tried his best. I’d like to see more people like him.”
On Sunday, the decorated Vietnam War veteran will be laid to rest at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery in Maryland. Though McCain’s father and grandfather are buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, McCain chose to be buried next to his lifelong friend and academy classmate Adm. Chuck Larson.
McCain died on Saturday, Aug. 25 at the age of 81 after a yearlong battle with brain cancer.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
