The American flag is flying at half-staff at the White House as funeral plans are underway for Sen. John McCain, who died of brain cancer at age 81 on Saturday.
Sen. McCain “will be laid to rest at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland,” according to his official website, which notes the funeral schedule will be announced at a later time.
Following Sen. McCain’s wishes for his funeral, widely reported earlier this year, Vice President Mike Pence — not President Donald Trump, who publicly disparaged McCain on numerous occasions — is expected to attend, according to The New York Times.
Before his death, Sen. McCain asked that former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush speak at his funeral, according to CBS News, and the Times reported that two unnamed Republicans familiar with the funeral plans indicated Obama and Bush have already been requested to offer eulogies. Meanwhile, former Vice President Joe Biden will reportedly speak at an Arizona service in Sen. McCain’s honor.
Sen. McCain will lie in state in the Arizona Capitol and Capitol Rotunda — only the 13th time a senator has done so, the Times reported.
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 Republic reported. 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 on 60 Minutes in 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 material: People Magazine (link below on Twitter link).