President Biden paid tribute to American fallen soldiers on Memorial Day — and also marked the anniversary of his own son’s death from cancer.
On a somber day for the commander-in-chief and father, Biden laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
Under a blazing late-spring sun, he told hundreds of families of soldiers who died in war that remembrance is always a mixed blessing.
“Memorial Day is always a day when pain and pride are mixed together,” Biden said. “We all know it sitting here.”
“It’s a bracing reminder of all that we ask of our service members and their families,” Biden said grimly.
Along with the annual wrenching tributes, Biden called the Russian invasion of Ukraine a stark reminder of the need for soldiers willing to put their lives on the line in service of freedom and democracy.
“When a war of aggression is once more being waged by Russia … we see so clearly all that this day means,” he said.
Even though American boots are not on the ground in Ukraine, Biden said our values are put to the test every day.
“Ukraine and its people are on the frontlines fighting to save their nation,” he said. “Their fight is a fight for all people, a battle between democracy and autocracy, between liberty and repression.”
For Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, the Monday holiday was doubly bittersweet. It marks seven years to the day that Biden’s veteran son, Beau, died from a brain tumor in 2015 after serving tours of duty in Iraq and Kosovo.
“Today’s the day our son died,” Biden said at Arlington, telling families that he knows remembrances like Monday’s can “reopen that black hole” of pain.
“He didn’t die in the line of duty. … but still, I always feel for him on Memorial Day,” Biden said. “The hurt can be overwhelming.”
At the White House, the first couple hosted a breakfast in the East Room with 130 or so members of veteran organizations, military family groups and senior Defense Department and other administration officials. Later, they would join families in the planting of a magnolia tree on the White House South Lawn in honor of the fallen.
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