Retired Marine Generals Mattis and John Kelly are currently both serving within the Trump administration — Mattis as secretary of defense and Kelly as chief of staff — but on Saturday morning, they were simply Marines, paying their final respects to a fallen brother in arms.
Mattis and Kelly flanked Cindy McCain as she laid a wreath, in honor of her husband Sen. John McCain, at the Vietnam Memorial Wall on Washington, D.C.’s national mall. McCain, who spent five and a half years as a prisoner at the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” in Vietnam, was a frequent visitor of that particular memorial.
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 01: Cindy McCain (3rd L) is escorted by U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis (2nd L) and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and her children and step-children after laying a wreath in honor of her husband, the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall September 1, 2018 in Washington, DC. Sen. McCain will be buried at his final resting place at the U.S. Naval Academy on Sunday. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 1: Cindy McCain, wife of, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., fourth from right, accompanied by President Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff John Kelly, second from right, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, second from left, and family members, arrives at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial during a funeral procession to carry the casket of her husband from the U.S. Capitol to National Cathedral for a Memorial Service on September 1, 2018 in Washington, DC.McCain served as a Navy pilot during the Vietnam War and was a prisoner of war for more than five years. Also pictured is Seaman Celeb Harrington of Fresno, Calif., right. (Photo by Andrew Harnik – Pool/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 1: Cindy McCain, wife of, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., accompanied by President Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff John Kelly, left, and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, second from left, lays a wreath at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial during a funeral procession to carry the casket of her husband from the U.S. Capitol to National Cathedral for a Memorial Service on September 1, 2018 in Washington, DC.McCain served as a Navy pilot during the Vietnam War and was a prisoner of war for more than five years. (Photo by Andrew Harnik – Pool/Getty Images)
Mattis and Kelly then escorted the McCain family back to the processional, which ended at the national cathedral. Hundreds gathered along the national mall applauded the family as they departed for the memorial service that began shortly thereafter.
This is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial minutes after the McCain family left. The hundreds here applauded them at the end. pic.twitter.com/haAHVsEkOy
— John Domen (@JDDsays) September 1, 2018
Secretary Mattis will perform one final honor for Sen. McCain as he is laid to rest Sunday at the Naval Academy — he will join seven of the senator’s family members (grandsons Andrew Jr. and Shep; granddaughters Caroline and Margaret; sons Andrew Sr. and Douglas; and son-in-law Ben Domenech) — and serve as a pallbearer on McCain’s final journey.
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