Family members, including Cindy McCain, follow a horse-drawn caisson carries the casket of Senator John McCain as it proceeds to the United States Naval Academy cemetery in Annapolis. Photos / AP
Family members, including Cindy McCain, follow a horse-drawn caisson carries the casket of Senator John McCain as it proceeds to the United States Naval Academy cemetery in Annapolis. Photos / AP
The late Senator John McCain was buried today in a private ceremony at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, bringing to a close five days of events honouring the late Arizona Republican.
McCain, who died last month of brain cancer at age 81, was the son and grandson of four-star admirals and a 1958 graduate of the Naval Academy. He endured more than five years of torture and imprisonment as a POW in Vietnam.
The private memorial service was attended by McCain's family, close friends, former classmates and military leaders. Among the expected speakers were longtime friend Senator Lindsey Graham, (R), retired army general and former CIA Director David Petraeus, and the senator's son Jack McCain.
After the ceremony, McCain was to be laid to rest next to his Naval Academy classmate and friend Admiral Charles Larson.
Yesterday, official Washington - with the notable exception of US President Donald Trump - gathered at Washington National Cathedral for a memorial service that featured tributes by such speakers as former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
McCain's legacy of bipartisanship and the deterioration of civility under Trump were themes mentioned by many of those who eulogised him, with some of the sharpest words aimed at the President coming from the senator's daughter Meghan McCain.
In an appearance today on CNN's State of the Union, former senator Joseph Lieberman, (I) one of McCain's closest friends in the Senate, said the burial service was "going to be hard, because it's the last farewell."
"Religiously, I feel their body is there, but their soul is on to the next world," said Lieberman. "But I'm left with incredible memories. I say goodbye, but I'll thank God I knew a man like John McCain."
Graham also recounted his memories of McCain during an appearance on the show. He told host Dana Bash that the main takeaway from the past week and from McCain's life is service to a cause greater than oneself.
"If you're thinking of public service, pick a cause worthy of a good fight, and, above all else, when you make a mistake, admit it," Graham said.
Both lawmakers also weighed in on Meghan McCain's tribute to her father at the memorial service, during which she said her father's America "has no need to be made great again because America was always great."
The remark was widely interpreted as a swipe at Trump, whose 2016 campaign slogan was "Make America Great Again."
"She did it the way her dad would have wanted her to do it," Lieberman said of the speech.
Graham told Bash that he was proud of Meghan McCain and said she was "her father's daughter."
"If you say something bad about her dad, you will know it, whether you are the janitor or the president of the United States," Graham said. "She is grieving for the father she adored, and I think most Americans understand that."
A horse drawn caisson carries the casket to Senator McCain's burial.
LAST JOURNEY: 'NEAR WHERE IT BEGAN'
Senator John McCain's final journey ended on a grassy hill at the US Naval Academy within view of the Severn River and earshot of midshipmen present and future, and alongside a lifelong friend.
A horse-drawn caisson carrying the senator's casket led a procession of mourners from the academy's chapel to its cemetery following a private service. The senator's widow, Cindy, and his children were among those who walked behind the caisson.
Joining them were family and friends as well as members of McCain's Class of 1958, military leaders and academy midshipmen.
A flyover of military aircraft honoured the Navy pilot who was shot down over Vietnam and held more than five years as a prisoner of war.
As the hearse carrying McCain passed through a gate and into the academy, there was loud applause from the several hundred people lining the street outside on the hot and muggy summer day. Many held their hands over their hearts and waved American flags. Some shouted, "God bless you."
People watch as the casket of Senator McCain is brought to Annapolis, Maryland.
People in the crowd held signs that read "Senator John McCain Thanks For Serving! Godspeed" and "Rest In Peace Maverick."
For his final resting place, McCain picked the historic site overlooking the Severn River, not Arlington National Cemetery, where his father and grandfather, both admirals, were buried.
Years ago Chuck Larson, an admiral himself and an ally throughout McCain's life, reserved four plots at the cemetery — two for McCain and himself, and two for their wives, now widows. Larson died in 2014, and McCain wrote in a recent memoir that he wanted to be buried next to his friend, "near where it began".
Among the pallbearers were Frank Gamboa, his academy roommate; Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and two men who were POWs with McCain in Vietnam, John Fer and Everett Alvarez.
