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Mourning John McCain

Residents lined up at the Arizona statehouse on Wednesday to pay respects to the late U.S. Senator John McCain, the Vietnam War hero and two-time Republican presidential candidate whose body will lie in state for the day at the Capitol Rotunda in Phoenix.

A hearse bearing McCain’s body arrived with a police escort shortly before 10 a.m. local time (1700 GMT) for a private wreath-laying ceremony honoring the senator, who died of brain cancer on Saturday at his Arizona ranch. He was 81.

The hearse was greeted by Governor Doug Ducey and his wife, an Arizona National Guard casket team and a phalanx of military personnel, war veterans, law enforcement officers and firefighters in dress uniform lining both sides of Capitol Plaza.

The tribute, to be followed in the afternoon by a public viewing of his flag-draped casket, marks the start of five days of memorials in Phoenix and Washington for McCain. Wednesday would have been McCain’s 82nd birthday. (Reuters)

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