CNN: Vietnam Pays Tribute to John McCain

EXCERPT:

WATSON: "It really is remarkable. I’m coming to you on a soggy evening, John, from Truc Bach lake, it's in the heart of Hanoi. This is where John McCain splashed down on October 26, 1967. It’s when a surface-to-air missile hit his plane when he was on a combat bombing mission over this city. Now, more than half century later, there’s still this small monument here that’s got his name on it because this was viewed as a North Vietnamese military victory, shooting down McCain and other U.S. pilots who were bombing North Vietnam. But look at this now. After the Senator’s passing, you’ve got these shows of respect, flowers, incense, money, cigarettes. We’ve got a bouquet here from the U.S. Embassy here in Hanoi. I just saw a South African couple who told me they were taking photos here. They said, 'We’re not Americans, but we respect the man.' The U.S. Embassy here in Hanoi has opened its annex to the public to let people sign a book of condolences. And I met Vietnamese there who are coming in to sign saying they thanked John McCain for helping establish friendly relations between Vietnam and the U.S., two countries that fought this bitter, bitter war against each other for so many years. And McCain himself, who was imprisoned here for some five and a half years, he says he suffered torture, solitary confinement, was forced to sign a confession during that long captivity, that ordeal, he became such a prominent voice for peace between the two countries. That is part of why people here love and respect him, John and Alisyn."