So there’s a protocol for this, too, I learned this week.
We set up a table in the American Center, where members of the public can sign the book of condolence.
As we received the news of John McCain’s death, we began preparing for condolences. It’s human nature for people to want to pay their respects, and we were not surprised that so many Vietnamese people were saddened by Senator McCain’s death. He is remembered here in Vietnam as a soldier turned statesman, who worked hard to normalize relations with the United States. They are especially impressed by the fact that he was treated so harshly as a POW here, and yet put aside his personal pain in the interest of a greater good. He was the embodiment of their country’s resolve to overcome the painful past and work toward a better future.
There is a specific State Department protocol for a book of condolences. We set up a signing station in our American Center, and publicized times for the public to come in and sign.
Local government officials also came in to sign, and that was covered by the local press.
The pages of the condolence book will be sent to Washington, D.C. and added to the international collection from our embassies and consulates around the world.
Flowers have been coming in all week.
Flowers are from private citizens as well as the government.
Regardless of whether one agrees with his political party’s policies and agenda, his reputation as a man who put country first is universally admirable. The Vietnamese people held him in great regard. All the press coverage here, and social media, wrote moving eulogies. Even the social media trolls on our Facebook page were silent. It seems that Vietnam is unified in its respect for John McCain.