OPINION:
Legendary Union Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman and Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston were bitter adversaries in the Civil War. But when Sherman died from pneumonia in New York City on Feb. 14, 1891, Johnston was an honorary pall bearer at his funeral, removing his hat in a show of respect on a raw, cold, rain-soaked day. When mourners reportedly urged him to put his hat on to avoid catching a deadly chill, Johnston said, “If I were in his place and he standing here in mine, he would not put on his hat.”
The two old soldiers had long since reconciled over the years, but Johnston developed pneumonia from that rainy day and died just a few weeks later.
President Trump initially showed no such respect when Sen. John McCain, a full-fledged, undisputed war hero, died Saturday from brain cancer.
According to Washington protocol, when a member of Congress dies, flags are flown at half-staff over the city’s government buildings until interment.
The White House flag was lowered to half-staff when Mr. McCain died, but when the sun came up on Monday morning it was back at full-staff, triggering a roar of disapproval from Capitol Hill and other critics, including the American Legion.
In a front-page story Tuesday, The Washington Post said critics of the decision to prematurely raise the flag were “interpreting the fleeting tribute as a sign of President Trump’s pettiness.”
The president had nothing good to say about the Arizona senator since he was sworn into office, after he famously denied that Mr. McCain was a war hero. His warped rationale for such a cruel statement was that he had been captured during the Vietnam War, explaining that he only admired and respected soldiers who were not captured.
This for a very brave and gutsy Navy pilot who was imprisoned in Vietnam for more than five years, and relentlessly beaten and tortured by his captors, returning home with the scars and broken bones to prove it.
Mr. Trump’s hatred for Mr. McCain knew no bounds, so when Monday rolled around, Mr. Trump had the flag raised to full staff. That was the last straw for the American Legion.
“On the behalf of The American Legion’s two million wartime veterans, I strongly urge you to make an appropriate presidential proclamation noting Senator McCain’s death and legacy of service to our nation, and that our nation’s flag be half-staffed through his internment,” the organization’s national commander, Denise Rohan, said in a statement to the president that sounded more like a demand.
Mr. Trump, whose record on behalf of veterans’ medical care is abysmal, reluctantly saluted the politically powerful veterans organization and did what he was told.
Here is the statement he released: “Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain’s service to our country and, in his honor, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his internment.”
The Associated Press noted that the president’s order and declaration of respect “came two days after McCain died at 81 from brain cancer.” And further reported that he would “accede to the family’s request that he stay away from McCain’s funeral services.”
Mr. Trump’s hatred for Mr. McCain was so intense that he refused to say his name at an event marking the signing of the National Defense Authorization Act that was named after John McCain.
But even in death, the Arizona senator left behind some strong words of advice for his legislative colleagues and for the nation he loved and defended.
“We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe,” Mr. McCain wrote in a farewell letter.
“We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be a great force for change they have always been,” he wrote.
“We are citizens of the world’s greatest republic, a nation of ideals, not blood and soil,” he added. “We are blessed and are a blessing to humanity when we uphold and advance those ideals at home and in the world.”
Mr. McCain’s colleagues in the Senate on both sides of the aisle, where for six terms he fought for the ideals he believed in, rose one by one to pay tribute to him. His old wooden desk was draped in black and a bouquet of white flowers had been placed on top as a gesture of respect.
• Donald Lambro is a syndicated columnist and contributor to The Washington Times.
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