Beating The Clock And Crowds To Give Arizona Sen. John McCain A Final Farewell
Sen. John McCain’s last moments in Arizona were at the Air National Guard portion of Sky Harbor Airport. The casket carrying his body left a little before 1 p.m. on Air Force Two en route to Washington, D.C.
About a dozen faithful Arizonans stood outside the entrance to the Air National Guard Base to grab a final chance to pay their respects, their soundtrack a helicopter above and a truck radio giving updates.
“There goes John McCain. On Air Force Two,” said Sandra Hernandez as the plane ascended. “God bless you.”
Hernandez had rushed to the airport from a doctor’s appointment. “I wanted to go yesterday and I didn’t have a ride,” she said, full of emotion. She missed viewing the casket when McCain laid in state on Wednesday. “So I said, today, I’m going to see if I can get to the airport and see him off. And I did! I made it!”
Hernandez moved to Arizona from New Mexico right around the time McCain was first elected. She said she kind of grew up with him.
“I know he’s not in pain anymore. He’s in a better place.”
— Sandra Hernandez
“I know he’s not in pain anymore. He’s in a better place,” said Hernandez, who also recently lost her mother. “But, you know, you just want to hold onto people a little tighter and let them know how much you love them.”
Tom Tutera wanted to get away from the crowd, and knew this was the place to go. He used to clean private planes. “So I’ve seen all the presidents come in and motorcades come in. And I know this is the closest you can get to the National Guard without breaching their security.”
Tutera also felt a kinship with McCain — he said he’s been known to be a "black sheep."
“So a black sheep and a maverick try to change things to make things better,” he said.
He wanted to be one of the last people to see him leave Arizona. On Thursday, he was.
