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| US Senator, War Hero John McCain Has Died
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In his waning months,
John Sidney McCain continued to speak vigorously
about America.
"We are blessed.
We are living in the land of the free,
the land where anything is possible."
The son of a U.S. admiral,
McCain became a Navy aviator
Greenpeace scientists gathered water and snow samples
and flew bombing missions
during the Vietnam War.
Shot down and captured
by the North Vietnamese
in 1967,
he endured more than five years of torture and deprivation
as a prisoner of war.
Decades later,
as a Republican senator,
McCain would return to Vietnam.
He championed the restoration of ties
between Washington and Hanoi,
leaving the past behind.
"Look, there are some individuals
that mistreated me in prison,
and I hope I never see again.
But, that doesn't change my opinion
that the Vietnamese people are wonderful and dear friends,
and we need them
and they need us."
McCain became a persistent critic
of Trump's governing style and policies,
as well as hyper-partisanship in Washington,
culminating with a decisive vote
scuttling a Republican health care plan
President Trump had championed.
McCain was revered
by Democrats and Republicans alike.
"Courage and loyalty.
I can think of no better description
of the man
we are honoring tonight,
my friend John McCain."
"John McCain, perhaps above all other politicians of recent years,
was willing to reach across the aisle
to try to do things
that were good for the country."
Many will mourn his passing,
but McCain remained upbeat
to the end.
"I am the luckiest guy on earth.
I have served America's cause."
Michael Bowman, VOA News, Washington
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