John McCain spent most of his life serving his country. He joined the Navy following the footsteps of his father and his grandfather who had both been Admirals. He served as a pilot, flying in the Vietnam war, where he was shot down and taken prisoner. After enduring the brutal POW camp known as the ‘Hanoi Hilton’, he returned to the Navy serving as the naval liaison to the US Senate. He retired from the Navy in 1981 and was elected to the United States House of Representatives the following year. He was elected into the United States Senate in 1986 were he served until 2008 when he ran as the Republican presidential candidate.

In his Farewell Statement, Senator McCain called for unity in these divisive times. Saying, “We are three-hundred-and-twenty-five million opinionated, vociferous individuals. We argue and compete and sometimes even vilify each other in our raucous public debates. But we have always had so much more in common with each other than in disagreement. If only we remember that and give each other the benefit of the presumption that we all love our country we will get through these challenging times. We will come through them stronger than before. We always do.”

McCain reminds us that even though we may have different opinions on issues, we are all Americans and we must understand that each of us has a place in this country and that we have to respect each other’s opinions. John McCain will be remembered as a great politician and a true patriot.