PHOENIX (AP) – Sen. John McCain was eulogized Thursday as a “true American hero” – and a terrible driver with a wicked sense of humor and love of a good fight – as 3,500 mourners crowded into an Arizona church to pay their final respects to the maverick politician.
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.”
Children of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., from back left, Sidney McCain, Meghan McCain and her husband Ben Domenech, Bridget McCain, and daughter-in-laws Holly McCain and Renee Swift, follow behind the casket into the Capitol rotunda for a memorial service, Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018, at the Capitol in Phoenix.(AP Photo/Matt York)
The honor guard moves the casket into the North Phoenix Baptist Church for a memorial service for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York, Pool)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 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 signs for the lawmaker.
Family members then watched in silence as uniformed military members removed the flag-draped casket from a black hearse and carried it into the church.