John Sidney McCain III, naval aviator, war hero, prisoner of war, statesman, U.S. congressman and senator — “maverick” — passed away on August 25, 2018, after a long and brave fight with brain cancer.
Much has already been said and written about this American icon and much, much more is still to be said and written.
But not much can surpass what has already been said about him:
“Serves something greater…
“His life shapes our character…
“Personifies service to country…
“Embodies Honor, Courage and Commitment…
“Met every fight in his life with grit and courage…
“They just don’t make ’em like John McCain anymore…
“John McCain’s life has been one of service and sacrifice…
“What a legacy you have gifted to us and generations to come…
“A brave man showing us once again what the words grace and grit really mean…
“He gave his all to his country, in uniform and out, from distant tiger cages to the Senate…
“A great American hero who has spent his entire life serving his country with distinction, selflessness, and honor…
“No man this century better exemplifies honor, patriotism, service, sacrifice, and country first than Senator John McCain. His heroism inspires, his life shapes our character.
Notice how frequently the words honor, courage, commitment and country appear in the accolades. True to the mottos of the Service he loved so much:
“Semper Fortis” (“Always Courageous”), “Honor, Courage Commitment” and “Non Sibi Sed Patriae!” (“Not for self but for country”)
But, in my opinion, John McCain’s own words and actions, his grace and humanity, are perhaps the best epitaph to the Senator.
For example, at a town hall meeting in Minnesota, when McCain was campaigning as the 2008 Republican nominee for president, a woman suggested that president Barack Obama could not be trusted because “he is an Arab.”
Gently taking the microphone away from the woman, McCain said:
No, ma’am. He’s a decent family man [and] citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues and that’s what this campaign’s all about. He’s not [an Arab].
Then, a few years later, presidential candidate Donald Trump disparaged McCain’s war record by claiming that the Arizona senator and former prisoner of war was not a war hero, despite McCain spending more than five years as a POW and enduring torture. Trump continued, “He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
When asked if Trump owed him an apology, McCain said, “No, I don’t think so…I’m in the arena, as T.R. used to say…The great honor of my life was to serve in the company of heroes. I’m not a hero.”
Talk about grace, honor and humility.
The same traits he displayed during one of his final public appearances, when Senator John McCain was awarded he National Constitution Center’s annual Liberty Medal on by Vice President Joe Biden.
Senator McCain said, in part:
I am the luckiest guy on earth. I have served America’s cause – the cause of our security and the security of our friends, the cause of freedom and equal justice – all my adult life. I haven’t always served it well. I haven’t even always appreciated what I was serving. But among the few compensations of old age is the acuity of hindsight. I see now that I was part of something important that drew me along in its wake even when I was diverted by other interests. I was, knowingly or not, along for the ride as America made the future better than the past.
And I have enjoyed it, every single day of it, the good ones and the not so good ones. I’ve been inspired by the service of better patriots than me. I’ve seen Americans make sacrifices for our country and her causes and for people who were strangers to them but for our common humanity, sacrifices that were much harder than the service asked of me. And I’ve seen the good they have done, the lives they freed from tyranny and injustice, the hope they encouraged, the dreams they made achievable.
May God bless them. May God bless America, and give us the strength and wisdom, the generosity and compassion, to do our duty for this wondrous land, and for the world that counts on us. With all its suffering and dangers, the world still looks to the example and leadership of America to become, another, better place. What greater cause could anyone ever serve.
Thank you again for this honor. I’ll treasure it.
Thank you Senator McCain for your service, for your example, for your humanity and Godspeed, Sir.
Our most sincere condolences to the Senator’s family.
Lead image: John McCain, (front, right) with his squadron. DoD photo
