John McCain funeral: Hollywood star Warren Beatty to be pallbearer
The Hollywood star was a close longtime friend of Senator McCain and will join a host of US political heavyweights at his funeral.
Tuesday 28 August 2018 12:08, UK
Hollywood star Warren Beatty will be among the pallbearers at the funeral of veteran US Senator John McCain.
The veteran actor and filmmaker will help to carry the coffin alongside a host of American political heavyweights, including ex-vice president Joe Biden and former mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg.
Beatty - nominated for 14 Academy Awards during a career spanning six decades - was a longtime friend of the Arizona senator and received a video tribute from him when he won an AFI life achievement award in 2008.
:: John McCain: A single-minded war hero and unquestionable patriot
George W Bush and Barack Obama will be among those to read at the service on Saturday, which will come a week after Mr McCain died at the age of 81.
Tributes have flooded in for the former presidential candidate, whose family said had chosen to end his treatment for brain cancer after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of the disease last year.
Among them was a message from the foreign minister of Vietnam, where Mr McCain was shot down during the US war with the southeast Asian nation.
Pham Binh Minh wrote in a condolence book at the US embassy in Hanoi that the politician was a "symbol of his generation" who helped "heal the wounds of war".
Mr McCain, who will be buried at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, was taken prisoner of war in Vietnam but after his release helped secure the repatriation of the remains of missing-in-action soldiers.
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Other names who will attend his funeral include former secretary of defence William Cohen, with the Republican's ex-campaign manager Richard Davis and fundraiser Carla Eudy to join those helping to carry the coffin.
President Donald Trump will not attend and is not thought to have even been invited to the service, having had a long-running feud with Mr McCain.
The president tweeted about Mr McCain after his death but has passed up several chances to comment publicly on the senator and has faced criticism, including from veterans groups, about his response.
On Monday, the flag at the top of the White House was re-lowered to half-mast to mark the death of Mr McCain after a backlash over how quickly it was raised again.