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Remembering a Special Man on a Special Day




Memorial Day was originally meant as a way to remember and honor the Civil War dead and was known, until 1971, as Decoration Day.  The day is now set aside to remember all those who have fallen in America’s wars.  And, further, to honor all those who have served.  

Among those who service I particularly remember is John McCain.  

John and I were both elected to the House of Representatives in 1982.  And as I write in my book Citizen Mack:

We elected John McCain leader of our incoming Republican freshman class and it was a no-brainer. He had the leadership skills and the enormous respect that we all felt for him given the courage he’d demonstrated while he was a POW in North Vietnam for five years. John also came to the job with a lot of experience working with Congress. He had been the Navy’s liaison to Capitol Hill for several years before he was elected to the House, and he knew the institution and the people who made it run. 

John and I both moved on to the Senate and we were friends as well as colleagues.  We remained friends after I left the Senate and I attended John’s memorial service at the National Cathedral in Washington and his funeral at the Naval Academy in Annapolis.  I kept a journal of those days and here is an excerpt:

The ceremony was deeply moving, touching emotions from happiness to sorrow, melancholy to laughter, disappointment to hope. It had been beautifully choreographed by John. The music was moving and inspirational . . . Amazing Grace, The Battle Hymn in the Republic, and Danny Boy which brought tears to my eyes as Cindy leaned over on the shoulder of her son … 
Seeing Cindy’s reaction pierced my heart as I listened to those beautiful words being sung. There was a little squirming as we listened to the speeches about partisanship, each of us knowing we could have done better at that. 

As the ceremony ended I was filled with a sense of peace, my soul was comforted.


                                                                                                         Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library and Museum/NARA

                                                                    




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