America mourns McCain
WASHINGTON — Flags were flying at half-staff Sunday over the White House and US Capitol in honor of John McCain, the Vietnam War hero and twotime presidential candidate with a legendary temper whose personal courage and insistence on treating even his foes with respect earned him near-universal admiration.
McCain died on Saturday, four days shy of his 82nd birthday, following a yearlong battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer. He is survived by his wife Cindy and seven children, three of them by an earlier marriage.
Senate leaders of both parties announced that McCain will lie in state in the US Capitol Rotunda, without specifying the timing.
That honor has been accorded to only a few notable Americans, including John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and civil rights icon Rosa Parks.
Majority leader Mitch McConnell called McCain "a great American patriot."
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey confirmed on Twitter that McCain will also lie in state at the Capitol building in Phoenix on Wednesday, McCain's birthday. "This is a rare and distinct occurrence for a truly special man," he said, adding: "John McCain is Arizona."
In Phoenix, a succession of ordinary Arizonans left flags or flowers at McCain's office or a local mortuary to honor the man who represented them in Congress for 35 years.
His funeral is expected to take place in the massive National Cathedral overlooking Washington before he is laid to rest according to his wishes at the Naval Academy in nearby Annapolis, Maryland.