‘Go in peace’: Family and friends honor John McCain as Arizona icon
By Chris McCroryCronkite News
cronkitenews.azpbs.org PHOENIX – In ancient Sparta, fallen warriors were carried home on their shields. On Wednesday, an American flag draped the casket of John McCain – sailor and senator, husband and father – as it was placed on the shield of his beloved Arizona. His widow and other family members, friends and Arizona leaders watched silently as members of the Arizona National Guard carried the casket into the Capitol rotunda, stopping on a mosaic of the Arizona state seal: a shield featuring the motto Ditat Deus (“God enriches” in Latin) flanked by images honoring mining, ranching, farming, scenery and Roosevelt Dam – nods to the five Cs of the state McCain called home for nearly four decades. Family members were the first to pay their respects. Cindy McCain, the senator’s wife, touched his casket before laying her cheek against the flag. Their seven children walked through after her, some stoic, some emotional. McCain’s daughter Meghan, a TV personality who often posted photos of her father and updates about his health, sobbed as she touched the casket.
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