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The ceremony was closed to the public but people will have the chance to pay their respects in the rotunda starting at 2 p.m.

Temperatures are expected to reach 104 degrees in Phoenix Wednesday, but that didn’t stop some mourners from getting an early start.

A group of motorcyclists parked their bikes in the lot behind the Capitol Wednesday morning two hours before the ceremony was scheduled to begin. They came from multiple motorcycle groups, as well as being members of the Patriot Guard Riders, with two saying that, as veterans, they felt called to be here.

\"He showed up for us,\" one man said of the Navy veteran and former prisoner of war, \"so we’re showing up for him.\"

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