In risking and enduring loss, McCain gave what no winner could. The ultimate test of values, he reminded us, isn’t what you’re willing to kill for. It’s what you’re willing to die for. Vice President Joe Biden, speaking at a memorial service in Arizona on Thursday, said McCain’s years in Vietnam taught Americans that “that there are principles and ideals greater than ourselves that are worth suffering, sacrificing for, and if necessary, dying for.” At Saturday’s service, Sen. Lindsey Graham spoke for less than 30 seconds, quoting Jesus’ words: “No greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
McCain’s losses made him stronger. At Saturday’s service, his daughter, Meghan, described his suffering in Vietnam: “He was crippled, he was beaten, he was starved, he was tortured, and he was humiliated.” But out of that defeat, she explained, “he triumphed.” When Meghan, as a girl, was thrown from a horse, her father instructed her to get back on it, telling her, “Nothing is going to break you.”
To Trump, McCain’s capture was the end of his Vietnam story. But to McCain, it was the beginning.
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