Americans in Vietnam lay flowers in tribute to McCain

Americans living in Vietnam paid tribute to the late Sen. John McCain by placing flowers at the Hanoi site where the Arizona Republican was shot down during the Vietnam War.

McCain, who died Saturday at age 81 after a battle with brain cancer, is remembered in the U.S. and globally for his military contributions during the Vietnam War. McCain spent five years as a prisoner of war in what’s known as the “Hanoi Hilton.”

The Navy pilot was shot down in 1967 over Vietnam’s Truc Bach Lake before being captured.

{mosads}Now, a memorial in Hanoi marks the site where McCain’s plane was shot down. McCain visited the site while in Vietnam in 2009.

“On Oct 26, 1967, at Truc Bach Lake, the military and people of Hanoi arrested Major John Sidney McCain, a pilot of the American Navy’s air force,” the sculpture reads, according to Reuters.

Robert Gibb, a U.S. citizen who laid a bouquet of chrysanthemums, told Reuters that he felt “compelled” to bring flowers after hearing of the senator’s death.

“He was the last guy I ever voted for president,” Gibb told Reuters. “The moment he dropped in here changed his life forever.”

The hours since McCain’s death was announced have been marked by dozens of tributes, tweets and statements from U.S. politicians and global leaders. The senator was widely respected across party lines.