This morning, at approximately 5:30 a.m. Arizona time, Sen. John McCain will be carried with ceremony from the Capitol by Armed Forces Body Bearers and moved by motorcade to Washington National Cathedral. The motorcade will pause at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial where Cindy McCain will lay a wreath honoring all whose lives were lost during the Vietnam War.
At approximately 7 a.m. Arizona time, a national memorial service will take place at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Senator McCain’s family, friends, congressional colleagues and staff, as well as U.S. and international leaders have been invited to attend and participate.
The Program
• Anthems in Procession by The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of Washington.
• Welcome by The Very Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith, dean of Washington National Cathedral.
• Hymn 608, “Eternal Father, Strong to Save” (The Navy Hymn), sung by the congregation.
• Tribute by Meghan McCain.
• Reading of poem “The Requiem,” by Jimmy McCain.
• Anthem, “My Country Tis of Thee,” sung by the congregation.
• Tribute by Senator Joseph I. Lieberman.
• Tribute by Dr. Henry A. Kissinger.
• Anthem, “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
• Tribute by President George W. Bush.
• Tribute by President Barack H. Obama.
• Anthem, “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
• The Collect for Burial by Dean Hollerith.
• Prayer for Those Who Grieve by Dean Hollerith.
• Reading, Wisdom 3:1-5, 9, by Senator Kelly Ayotte.
• Anthem, “The Lord is my Shepherd,” led by the Washington National Cathedral Choir.
• Reading, 2 Corinthians 5:6-8, by Sidney McCain.
• Hymn, “How Great Though Art,” sung by the congregation.
• Gospel, John 15:12-13, read by Senator Lindsey Graham.
• Homily by Father Edward A. Reese, S.J.
• Musical reflection, “Danny Boy,” sung by Renee Fleming.
• Concluding prayer, led by Bishop Budde.
• Anthem, “America the Beautiful.”
• The Commendation, led by Dean Hollerith, Bishop Budde, and Father Reese.
• The Blessing by Bishop Budde.
• The Dismissal by Dean Hollerith.
• Postlude, “Final,” from Symphony I, OP.14 and Piece d’orgue, BWV 572.
Pallbearers
Warren Beatty: Friend, actor, filmmaker, and political activist. He received 14 Academy Award nominations for his work as an actor, director and screenwriter.
Vice President Joseph Biden: Friend, former vice president, six-term U.S. senator from Delaware, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Michael Bloomberg: Friend, founder and chief executive officer of Bloomberg L.P, three-term mayor of New York City. Recognized as one of the nation’s leading philanthropists.
William Cohen: Friend, founding partner of the Cohen Group. Former U.S. Secretary of Defense, three-term senator from Maine, and three-term congressman from Maine.
Stephen Dart: Friend, businessman.
Richard Davis: Friend, partner and chief operating officer at Pegasus Capital Advisors, LP. Former national campaign manager for Senator McCain presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2008; special assistant to President Ronald Reagan.
Carla Eudy: Friend, president, the Eudy Company, longtime fundraiser.
Senator Russ Feingold: Friend, visiting professor at Marquette University Law School, former three-term U.S. senator from Wisconsin and U.S. Special Envoy to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Senator Phil Gramm: Friend, visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, former vice chairman of UBS Investment Bank, three-term U.S. senator from Texas, and three-term U.S. representative from Texas. Senator
Gary Hart: Friend, author and attorney, professor at the University of Colorado at Denver, former U.S. special envoy for Northern Ireland, co-chairman of the U.S. Commission on National Security for the 21st Century, and two-term U.S. Senator from Colorado.
Vladimir Kara-Murza: Friend, vice chairman of Open Russia, and chairman of the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom.
Governor Tom Ridge: Friend, former U.S. Secretary for Homeland Security, governor of Pennsylvania, and seven-term U.S. representative from Pennsylvania, veteran of the Vietnam War.
Mark Salter: Friend, author, former chief of staff to Senator McCain. Fred Smith: Friend, founder, chairman and president of FedEx, former U.S. Marine Corps officer and veteran of Vietnam War.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse: Friend, serving second term as U.S. senator from Rhode Island, former attorney general for Rhode Island and Providence Plantations; U.S. attorney for the District of Rhode Island