John McCain eulogised as ‘a true American hero’ with a wicked sense of humour

Cindy McCain, widow of Senator John McCain, walks to board a military passenger aircraft after the casket of her husband was loaded at the airport. AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

Senator John McCain was eulogised Thursday as a “true American hero” — and a terrible driver with a wicked sense of humour and love of a good battle — at a crowded church service for the maverick politician that ended with the playing of Frank Sinatra’s My Way.

Addressing an estimated 3,500 mourners, former vice president Joe Biden recalled “the sheer joy that crossed his face when he knew he was about to take the stage of the Senate floor and start a fight.”

Mr Biden, a Democrat who was among the fast friends the Republican senator made across the aisle, said he thought of McCain as a brother, “with a lot of family fights.”

The service for the statesman, former prisoner of war and two-time presidential candidate unfolded at North Baptist Church after a motorcade bearing McCain’s body made its way from the state Capitol past Arizonans waving American flags and campaign-style McCain signs.

Family members watched in silence as uniformed military members removed the flag-draped casket from a black hearse and carried it into the church. McCain died last Saturday of brain cancer at 81.

McCain’s long-time chief of staff Grant Woods, a former Arizona attorney general, drew laughs with a eulogy in which he talked about McCain’s “terribly bad driving” and his sense of humour, which included calling the Leisure World retirement community ‘Seizure World’.

Mr Woods also recalled the way McCain would introduce him to new staff members by saying, “You’ll have to fire half of them.”

The church’s senior pastor, Noe Garcia, pronounced McCain “a true American hero.”

The church service brought to a close two days of mourning for the six-term senator and 2008 GOP presidential nominee in his home state.

A motorcade then took McCain’s body to the airport, where it put aboard a military aircraft for the flight back east for a lying-in-state at the US Capitol on Friday, a service at the Washington National Cathedral on Saturday, and burial at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, on Sunday.

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Neither Mr Biden nor other speakers uttered president Donald Trump’s name, but Mr Biden made what some saw as a veiled reference to the president when he talked about McCain’s character and his opposition to those who “lacked the basic values of decency and respect, knowing this project is bigger than yourself.”

Mr Biden said McCain “could not stand the abuse of power wherever he saw it, in whatever form, in whatever country.”

Dabbing his eyes at times, Mr Biden also referred to his own son’s death from cancer, saying of the disease: “It’s brutal, it’s relentless, it’s unforgiving.” And he spoke directly to McCain’s widow, Cindy McCain, in the front row: “You were his ballast.”

Sinatra’s My Way paid tribute to a politician who became known for following his own path based on his personal principles.

McCain clashed openly with Mr Trump, who mocked McCain for getting captured during the Vietnam War. Two White House officials said McCain’s family had asked that Mr Trump not attend the funeral services.

Twenty-four sitting US senators, four former senators and other leaders were among those expected at Thursday’s memorial.

The memorial was laced with humour and featured a racially and ethnically diverse roster of speakers and other participants.

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who is black, talked about his unlikely connection with McCain, a big fan of the state’s sports teams.

“While from very different worlds, we developed a meaningful friendship,” said Mr Fitzgerald, adding that McCain didn’t judge others on their skin colour, gender or bank account but on their character.

As the 11-vehicle motorcade with a 17-motorcycle police escort made its way toward the church, people along the 13km route held signs that read simply ‘McCain’, and cars on the other side of the highway stopped or slowed to a crawl in apparent tribute.

A few firefighters saluted from atop a fire engine parked on an overpass as the motorcade passed underneath on Interstate 17.

One man shouted, “We love you!”

On Wednesday, a private service was held at the Arizona Capitol for family and friends. McCain’s widow pressed her face against her husband’s coffin, and daughter Meghan McCain erupted in sobs.

An estimated 15,000 people filed past the senator’s casket to pay their final respects, and McCain sons Doug, Jack and Jimmy, daughter Sidney and daughter-in-law Renee shook hands with some of them.

On Thursday, Michael Fellars was among those awaiting the motorcade outside the church. The Marine veteran said he was also the fourth person in line Wednesday to attend the viewing at the state Capitol for McCain, a Navy pilot held prisoner by the North Vietnamese for 5½ years after being shot down over Hanoi.

“He was about the only politician that I have ever known who cared for the people in his country, and he tried his level best to make it a better place in which to live,” Mr Fellars said.