The Latest: McCain praised for helping Vietnam relations

WASHINGTON (AP) " The Latest on the death of Sen. John McCain (all times local):

2 a.m.

A former Vietnamese ambassador to Washington, Nguyen Quoc Cuong, says Sen. John McCain played an important role in normalizing relations between the U.S. and the communist country, where he was held prisoner of war for more than five years.

Coung wrote on his Facebook page that McCain was very proud of the monument erected by Vietnam at the Truc Bach Lake in Hanoi where his fighter jet was shot down and he was taken prisoner. He also recalled that McCain asked the Vietnamese to correct the inscription that identified him as an Air Force instead of a Navy pilot.

Coung wrote, "Each time during his visit to Vietnam, he often took other senators and friends to the monument."

Coung says there were times when McCain expressed concern that after he and Sen. John Kerry were gone, a new generation of American lawmakers would not fully understand the care with which to promote Vietnam-U.S. relations, and so he made a point to bring young senators with him on his visits to the Southeast Asian nation.

12:40 a.m.

Sen. John McCain is being remembered for his service in war and in Congress by presidents and lawmakers. The longtime Arizona Republican died Saturday after a yearlong battle with brain cancer.

President Donald Trump has offered his "deepest sympathies and respect" to McCain's family.

The man who defeated McCain for the presidency in 2008, Barack Obama, says they shared a fidelity to American ideals. McCain's opponent for the GOP nomination in 2000, George W. Bush, calls his former political rival a "man of deep conviction and a patriot of the highest order."

McCain is expected to be honored in Arizona and Washington before being buried, likely this coming week, at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland. Bush is among those expected to speak at McCain's funeral.