Creator: Jarrett Renshaw
ARLINGTON, Virginia (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden paid tribute to fallen troopers on Monday on the 156th Memorial Day observance at Arlington Nationwide Cemetery exterior the capital.
Biden, accompanied by Vice President Kamala Harris and Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin, laid a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in a solemn ceremony.
“On this solemn event, we collect on this sacred place to recollect and commemorate the sacrifice of the a whole lot of hundreds of women and men who gave their lives for this nation,” Biden later mentioned within the cemetery’s amphitheater.
Earlier within the day, Biden hosted a breakfast on the White Home in honor of Memorial Day that included authorities officers, navy leaders, veterans and members of so-called “Gold Star” households, referring to those that served within the navy. Individuals who have misplaced instant members of the family in motion.
The Memorial Day ceremony is the most recent in a sequence of occasions the place Biden has centered on lively responsibility and veterans, together with a graduation tackle Saturday on the U.S. Navy Academy in West Level, New York.
Subsequent week, the president will journey to Normandy, France, to attend a ceremony commemorating the eightieth anniversary of the D-Day landings. He’s anticipated to ship a significant speech on the heroism of the Allied forces in World Conflict II and the continuing threats to democracy at the moment.
Thursday will mark the ninth anniversary of the dying of Biden’s son Beau, who served in Iraq and within the Delaware Nationwide Guard. Beau died of glioblastoma, a extremely aggressive type of mind most cancers that his father believed might have been attributable to publicity to navy burn pits in Iraq.
“This week marks the ninth anniversary of the lack of my son Beau,” Biden mentioned. “Our loss is totally different. He did not die on the battlefield. He was a most cancers affected person.
“I dwell with the ache of his loss each day … and am happy with his service,” the president mentioned.
On Memorial Day, each cemetery in Arlington has a small American flag, fastidiously positioned only a boot’s size from the gravestone. The flags have been planted by 1,500 troopers from the Military’s third Infantry Regiment, generally generally known as the “Outdated Guard.” Since being designated an official ceremonial unit of the Military in 1948, the regiment has carried out this custom generally known as “Planting the Flag” annually earlier than Memorial Day.
