Actions

Memorial service held for Sen. John McCain

Posted at 9:35 AM, Sep 01, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-01 12:50:23-04

It’s Washington’s turn to say goodbye to the late Sen. John McCain. And McCain is saying farewell — his way.

The six-term Republican senator from Arizona, who lived and worked in the nation’s capital over four decades, will lie in state under the U.S. Capitol rotunda Friday for a ceremony and public visitation.

You can watch the service in the player below.

On Saturday, McCain’s procession paused by the Vietnam Memorial and headed for Washington National Cathedral for a formal funeral service. At McCain’s request, two former presidents — Barack Obama and George W. Bush — spoke at the memorial.

People close to the White House and McCain’s family say President Donald Trump has been asked to stay away from all events. During the presidential campaign, Trump mocked McCain for getting captured during the Vietnam War.

McCain's funeral will be held Sunday around 2 p.m. at a private memorial service inside the U.S. Naval Academy Chapel in Annapolis, Maryland. Following the service, McCain will be laid to rest at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery next to his life-long friend and fellow service member Admiral Chuck Larson.

Prior to Larson's death in 2014, he reserved four cemetery plots of land for himself, McCain and their spouses. The two men met at the Naval Academy and graduated together in 1958.