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As fighter jets streak overhead, McCain is buried in Annapolis

By Warren Strobel

 

The horse-drawn caisson bearing the body of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., moves through the grounds of the United Sates Naval Academy toward the cemetery after a service in the Chapel Sunday, Sept. 2, 2018, in Annapolis, Md. David Hume Kennerly/McCainFamily/Pool via Reuters

 

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Reuters) - Fighter jets roared over the U.S. Naval Academy on Sunday in a final tribute to former Senator John McCain as the Vietnam War hero and two-time presidential candidate was laid to rest at the military college that began his career six decades ago.

 

As three F-18 jets from the Navy's Blue Angels show squadron streaked overhead, a fourth plane broke formation and arced skyward, marking the conclusion of an extraordinary five-day show of mourning for one of the United States' most admired politicians.

 

Family and friends, along with the Naval Academy's class of 1958 and its current student body, bade a final farewell in a private service at the Naval Academy chapel before McCain, who died Aug. 25 at age 81, was interred in a cemetery on the academy grounds.

 

"I watched them lay my friend to rest today. I will miss him," Senator Jeff Flake, who represented Arizona alongside McCain in Congress, wrote on Twitter.

 

Crowds gathered along the route of the motorcade bearing McCain's body. At one point, a large American flag hung suspended between two cranes on a bridge.

 

McCain's burial plot was next to his classmate and friend, Admiral Chuck Larson, a former commander of U.S. Pacific Command who died in 2014, according to the McCain family.

 

Among those paying tribute to McCain at Sunday's private service were his sons Jack and Don, retired Army General David Petraeus and Senator Lindsey Graham, a long-time political ally and friend.

 

McCain, an often imposing presence for decades in U.S. defense and foreign policy, was eulogized by former U.S. presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, as well as his daughter Meghan McCain on Saturday at a Washington ceremony.

 

Without naming Trump, McCain's daughter, Bush and Obama all rebuked Trump, who feuded with the late senator and mocked his military service, which included 5-1/2 years as a prisoner during the Vietnam War.

 

During both the Washington ceremony and the Annapolis burial, Trump was at his private golf course in Virginia.

 

Before the burial Graham, appearing on CNN, said; "I'm going to try to focus on the fact that I'm going to admit to what I've lost. I cannot think of anything I've done in politics of consequence, any cause I've engaged in, that John was not there, that I was not his wingman."

 

Joseph Lieberman, a former U.S. senator and close friend, said on CNN: "I say goodbye and my heart will be heavy. I'll shed a tear and yet I'll thank God that I knew a man like John McCain so well."

 

(Additional reporting by Andy Sullivan and Yasmeen Abutaleb in Washington; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, Jeffrey Benkoe and Bill Trott)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-09-03

[neeray]

Above well said. I am a Canadian but follow U.S. politics much more closely than Canadian politics. I was pleased to see the glitch-free week of farewells to Senator John McCain. And even though Trump was unwanted at the funeral, I was delighted to witness the bipartisan spirit by friends and politicos ,past and present, of either persuasion. This is what the Senator planned and wanted.

[pegman]

R.I.P. It seems old John set out to give Trump a final few days of humiliation. Mission Accomplished sir!

[Grouse]

Excellent send off! Our cousins did an exemplary job! ??

[Jingthing]

2 hours ago, neeray said:

Above well said. I am a Canadian but follow U.S. politics much more closely than Canadian politics. I was pleased to see the glitch-free week of farewells to Senator John McCain. And even though Trump was unwanted at the funeral, I was delighted to witness the bipartisan spirit by friends and politicos ,past and present, of either persuasion. This is what the Senator planned and wanted.

Yes and no.

He also wanted to sharply repudiate "trump" and everything he stands for. Mission accomplished.

[crazykopite]

Was Trump a draft dodger by any chance ?

[impulse]

1 hour ago, Grouse said:

Excellent send off! Our cousins did an exemplary job! 

 

I'd have actually preferred they spent the money treating a few dozen (hundred?) kids suffering from diseases their parents can't afford due to lack of political will on both sides of the aisle to fix the broken health care system.

 

Edit:  That's not a poke at McCain, BTW.  It's a poke at the whole system that congratulates themselves on failure, as long as their side wins.

 

Edited September 3, 2018 by impulse

[freebyrd]

4 hours ago, neeray said:

Above well said. I am a Canadian but follow U.S. politics much more closely than Canadian politics. I was pleased to see the glitch-free week of farewells to Senator John McCain. And even though Trump was unwanted at the funeral, I was delighted to witness the bipartisan spirit by friends and politicos ,past and present, of either persuasion. This is what the Senator planned and wanted.

As an Englishman I second that.

[Enoon]

https://uk.reuters.com/video/2018/09/02/blue-angels-give-mccain-roaring-final-sa?videoId=460576449&videoChannel=118261

[Expatthailover]

A brave man who signed up and served his country passes on.

Meanwhile a lying venal misogynistic narcissist who used daddy's money to avoid national service remains POTUS. 

Life is cruel

[Srinivas]

Best tweet of the year imo

Srini:
Jeremy au Barca (@ProgDownTicket) Tweeted:
Somebody lock the doors at McCain's funeral and just start a war crimes tribunal. https://twitter.com/ProgDownTicket/status/1035923912998043648?s=17

[impulse]

7 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

You may disagree with his politics but I can tell you he was a brave man who was kept as a prisoner for 5.5 years and was tortured continuously. He could have left early as the Vietnamese offered to release him but John refused and abides by the US Military Code of Conduct.  I have no inclination to explain it to you- look it up if you dare.

 

The issue is that had he been released because of his family connections, his political career would have been a non-starter, and his military career would have been in the crapper. 

 

He didn't stay because it was his duty.  He stayed because it was the smart career move.

 

[Thaidream]

5 minutes ago, impulse said:

The issue is that had he been released because of his family connections, his political career would have been a non-starter, and his military career would have been in the crapper. 

 

He didn't stay because it was his duty.  He stayed because it was the smart career move.

Probably the biggest  amount of BS I have ever read.

 

You ever been in a POW Camp?  You ever been tortured?  Do you have any idea what the Military Code of Conduct is?   Have you ever talked to a former POW?

 

Obviously not or you would never make such a disrespectful and scurrilous remark.  The last thing John McCain thought about while in prison in Vietnam was his 'career'.  His main thought was staying alive....somehow.... just stay alive...

 

Have some respect!!!

[smotherb]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

The issue is that had he been released because of his family connections, his political career would have been a non-starter, and his military career would have been in the crapper. 

 

He didn't stay because it was his duty.  He stayed because it was the smart career move.

 

Yeah, so was honoring the code of conduct a good career move

[Tug]

Thank you sir Rest In Peace btw Donald seems strangely quiet wonder how long before he starts spewing bs

[JAG]

7 hours ago, crazykopite said:

Was Trump a draft dodger by any chance ?

No, he suffered untold agonies from bone spurs, which rendered him unfit for serving his country.

I believe that plans are afoot to immortalise his struggles in film -  the working title "They Couldn't Get their Boots On."

 

Remarkably, although his bone spurs appear to have healed, miraculously and coincidentally at about the same time that the possibility of being drafted went away; he still remains  unfit to serve his country.

 

Incidentally, I do hope that they haven't spent too much on this funeral, resources which will be desperately needed to fund that big parade that is being planned...

[Scott]

Off-topic, troll, false posts and replies removed.  

 

[pegman]

10 hours ago, impulse said:

 

The issue is that had he been released because of his family connections, his political career would have been a non-starter, and his military career would have been in the crapper. 

 

He didn't stay because it was his duty.  He stayed because it was the smart career move.

 

Take a bow. Someone who could teach Trump a thing or two about getting despicably low. That's a very rare person. 

[lannarebirth]

16 hours ago, impulse said:

 

I'd have actually preferred they spent the money treating a few dozen (hundred?) kids suffering from diseases their parents can't afford due to lack of political will on both sides of the aisle to fix the broken health care system.

 

Edit:  That's not a poke at McCain, BTW.  It's a poke at the whole system that congratulates themselves on failure, as long as their side wins.

 

 

Failure is the new success. They even teach it in university now. Important caveat; always fail while using someone else's money and/or life.

 

While we wait for competence, responsibility, good governance, vision and political bravery to return we get big helpings of bread and circuses.

Edited September 3, 2018 by lannarebirth

[africasiaeuro]

Not sure how to repin but one thing is for sure: Vietnamese have not much to add concerning McCain. 

To leave the hellhole of their prisons, one must come up with more than just a warm handshake.

Thus whether he was a hero or not could only be confirmed by Vietnamese archives, which by the way exist.

First of all: The Vietnamese are a forgiving people.

As one former Vietcong General who was on the verge of being executed by the Americans according to his account put it to me, said: 'That time was war.' He doesn't hold any grudges against them. A genuinely stoic statement from a real veteran. He was until his retirement head of a military-run company in Hanoi.

A nice man I would not have liked to meet back in the 70's.

The McCain we saw was a warmonger. He created conflicts.

Sorry I can't see the hero here.

I hope that he will finds peace in his afterlife, though I very much doubt it. 

 

 

 

[300sd]

The President of the US is always welcome at my funeral, anytime, anywhere, and I don't care which president. And if anyone wants to disrespect anyone at my funeral, whether a President or anyone else, please don't bother coming! It is especially not the place for Politics.