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| Members of the McCain family pay their respects as the military honor guard team carries the casket of John McCain, a long-time U.S. senator, at a funeral service Saturday at the National Cathedral in Washington. Photo Ken Cedeno/UPI |
By Allen Cone, UPI
John McCain was buried Sunday afternoon at a private ceremony at the U.S. Naval Academy, one day after he was eulogized by former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush and his daughter.
McCain, who served 32 years in the U.S. Senate, was laid to rest at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery after the 2 p.m. service at the chapel in Annapolis, Md., according to McCain's website. McCain graduated from the academy in 1958 and went on to become a decorated fighter pilot who was captured by North Vietnam in 1967.
"I want to watch the hawks hunt from the sycamore, and then take my leave bound for a place near my old friend Chuck Larson, in the cemetery on the Severn [River], back where it began," he wrote in a memoir published earlier this year.
The burial plot for McCain, 81, next to Navy friend Charles "Chuck" Larson at the cemetery.
McCain was nicknamed "McNasty" as he graduated near the bottom of his graduating class, and Larson had good grades. Larson died in 2014 at age 77 of pneumonia after undergoing two years of treatment for leukemia.
In 1991, Larson was named commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Command -- the same post held by McCain's father.
Speakers included his son Jack McCain, a Navy helicopter pilot; Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., McCain's friend in the Senate; and Gen. David Petraeus. Another son Doug McCain, a retired Navy pilot, and former chief of staff Mark Salter, will also read scripture passages at the service.
Amazing Grace and Faith of our Fathers were sung by the U.S. Navy Choir.
The motorcade traveled eastbound on U.S. 50 between Washington and Annapolis -- a 50-mile trip
Supporters, some waving flags, lined the streets outside the Naval Academy.
"God bless the USA!" one woman said as people clapped and cheered,
On Saturday at the Washington National Cathedral, daughter Meghan McCain fought back tears telling mourners her father transcended his many titles and roles -- including sailor, aviator, husband, warrior, prisoner of war, hero, congressman, senator and presidential nominee.
"These are all the titles and roles of a life that has been well lived but they are not the greatest of his titles, nor the most important of his roles. He was a great man," she said during the first eulogy. "We 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 live lives of comfort and privilege while he suffered and served."
Meghan McCain drew sustained applause as she said, "the America of John McCain has no need to be made great again, because America was always great."
It was a variation on the campaign slogan by President Donald Trump, who was not invited to the funeral and instead was playing golf at his resort in Virginia.
McCain, who criticized the president frequently though they are both Republicans, was eulogized by two other political rivals -- Obama whom he beat in the 2008 presidential election and Bush in 2000 leading up to the presidential nomination.
McCain died one week ago Saturday, preceding a week of ceremonies in Arizona and Washington, D.C.
His body lay in state in both Capitols. Ceremonies were conducted in the U.S. Rotunda and a church in Phoenix.
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