PHOENIX – Senator John Sidney McCain III died at 4:28 p.m. on August 25, 2018, four days prior to his 82nd birthday.
At the time of his death, he had served the United States of America faithfully, both in uniform and in public office, for sixty years.
The senator died at his ranch in Arizona after a yearlong battle with brain cancer.
He will be honored for five days at ceremonies in Arizona, Maryland and Washington.
McCain will be buried at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery on a peninsula overlooking the Severn River in Annapolis, Maryland. On Aug. 25, his grave was marked where he had written he wanted to be buried – next to his best friend from his Naval Academy days, Adm. Chuck Larson.
He has been praised by world leaders for being a “hero,” an “inspiration to millions,” a maverick, and a man “of great courage.” To democratically elected politicians across the globe, McCain embodied a U.S. role model.
“Whether or not one shared McCain’s political views, they could respect his courage, honesty, and integrity. “Few of us have been tested the way John once was or required to show the kind of courage that he did. But all of us can aspire to the courage to put the greater good above our own. At John’s best, he showed us what that means. And for that, we are all in his debt,” said former President Barack Obama.
In McCain’s final days, he wrote a farewell statement to his beloved America. Two days after his death, the statement was delivered by Rick Davis, Senator John McCain’s former presidential campaign manager and a family spokesman.
Farewell Statement by John McCain
“My fellow Americans, whom I have gratefully served for sixty years, and especially my fellow Arizonans,
“Thank you for the privilege of serving you and for the rewarding life that service in uniform and in public office has allowed me to lead. I have tried to serve our country honorably. I have made mistakes, but I hope my love for America will be weighed favorably against them.
“I have often observed that I am the luckiest person on earth. I feel that way even now as I prepare for the end of my life. I have loved my life, all of it. I have had experiences, adventures and friendships enough for ten satisfying lives, and I am so thankful. Like most people, I have regrets. But I would not trade a day of my life, in good or bad times, for the best day of anyone else’s.
“I owe that satisfaction to the love of my family. No man ever had a more loving wife or children he was prouder of than I am of mine. And I owe it to America. To be connected to America’s causes – liberty, equal justice, respect for the dignity of all people – brings happiness more sublime than life’s fleeting pleasures. Our identities and sense of worth are not circumscribed but enlarged by serving good causes bigger than ourselves.
“‘Fellow Americans’ – that association has meant more to me than any other. I lived and died a proud American. We are citizens of the world’s greatest republic, a nation of ideals, not blood and soil. We are blessed and are a blessing to humanity when we uphold and advance those ideals at home and in the world. We have helped liberate more people from tyranny and poverty than ever before in history. We have acquired great wealth and power in the process.
“We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe. We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been.
“We are three-hundred-and-twenty-five million opinionated, vociferous individuals. We argue and compete and sometimes even vilify each other in our raucous public debates. But we have always had so much more in common with each other than in disagreement. If only we remember that and give each other the benefit of the presumption that we all love our country, we will get through these challenging times. We will come through them stronger than before. We always do.
“Ten years ago, I had the privilege to concede defeat in the election for president. I want to end my farewell to you with the heartfelt faith in Americans that I felt so powerfully that evening.
I feel it powerfully still.
“Do not despair of our present difficulties but believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here. Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We make history.
“Farewell, fellow Americans. God bless you, and God bless America.”
Editor’s note: Today, August 29th, is the 82nd anniversary of the birth of John McCain.
