Photo: Ross D Franklin/AP/REX/Shutterstock
Sen.John McCainreceived a hero’s send-off as his body arrived in Phoenix, Arizona, on Saturday night, hours after hedied of brain cancerat age 81.
Onlookers paid their respects while a motorcade carried McCain’s body from his ranch in Cornville, Arizona, to a mortuary in Phoenix,The Arizona Republicreported.
At 6:50 p.m. local time, just hours after McCain’s death at 4:28 p.m., the motorcade began the nearly 100-mile drive to the A.L. Moore-Grimshaw,according to the outlet. It passed a number of tributes, including an American flag and a sign that read “Sen. McCain thank you for your service.”
Ross D Franklin/AP/REX/Shutterstock
Donna Scaggs, who spotted the motorcade on the journey, told theRepublicthat she considered McCain the “epitome of American grit.”
She added, “We knew it was coming. It was expected. It happened so quickly, but he led a good life, and I’m sure his family is proud of him. He left a legacy that will long be remembered, so that’s all that needs to be said.”
In a group of about 200 people outside the mortuary, some called out, “I love you, John.”
Meanwhile, Gov. Doug Ducey ordered that flags in Arizona fly at half-staff in memory of Sen. McCain. The American flag also flew at half-staff at the White House.
Plans for additional tributesto the late senator are underway.
Sen. McCain “will be laid to rest at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland,” according to hisofficial website, which notes the funeral schedule will be announced at a later time.
RELATED VIDEO: Senator John McCain Dies at Age 81
Before his death, Sen. McCain asked that former presidentsBarack ObamaandGeorge W. Bushspeak at his funeral,according to CBS News, and theTimesreported that two unnamed Republicans familiar with the funeral plans indicated that Obama and Bush have already been requested to offer eulogies. Meanwhile, former Vice PresidentJoe Bidenwill reportedly speak at an Arizona service in Sen. McCain’s honor.
Heidi Gutman/ABC
Sen. McCain will lie in state in the Arizona Capitol and Capitol Rotunda — only the 13th time a senator has done so, theTimesreported.
A full dress funeral service will reportedly take place at the Washington National Cathedral before the burial.
The burial location is expected to be near his classmate and lifelong friend, Chuck Larson,The Arizona Republicreported. Sen. McCain, who graduated from the Naval Academy in 1958, described the location in his 2018 bookThe Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations, calling it “a beautiful spot” close to where his and Larson’s “paths first crossed.”
Sen. McCain, the former POW and outspoken Republican politician nicknamed The Maverick for being unafraid to disagree with fellow members of his party, said on60 Minutesin September 2017 that he wanted a service at the Naval Academy.
“I want, when I leave, that the ceremony is at the Naval Academy,” he shared. “And we just have a couple of people that stand up and say, ‘This guy, he served his country.’”
source: people.com
