President Joe Biden and other dignitaries honored those who gave their lives serving in the United States military with a series of events on Memorial Day, including the traditional wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
“On Memorial Day, we remember the patriots who gave their lives in the service of America, in the service of freedom, and in the service of justice,” the president wrote in a Twitter post Monday morning. “We are free because they were brave, and we live by the light of the flame of liberty they kept burning. We are forever grateful.”
The president began his day in his home state of Delaware, where he visited the grave of his son, Beau, on the seventh anniversary of his death. Beau Biden, who was a member of the Delaware Army National Guard and served in Iraq, died on May 30, 2015, from an aggressive form of brain cancer.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church in Wilmington, Del., Monday, May 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Upon returning to the White House, President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden hosted a breakfast for Gold Star families, family members of those whose loved ones died in service to the country.
The Biden family was joined at the ceremony at Arlington by Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, as well as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Biden laid the wreath and saluted it right before a bugle player played “Taps,” the traditional call of the U.S. Armed Forces at ceremonies and military funerals.
President Joe Biden lays a wreath at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, Monday, May 30, 2022, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The day was set to culminate with the president and first lady planting a tree on the White House’s South Lawn alongside families of service members who have died in service to the country. The magnolia tree will honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice, as well as “the families who carry on their legacies,” according to the White House.
The events came one day after President Biden and the first lady traveled to Uvalde, Texas, the site of the second-deadliest school shooting in recorded U.S. history, to meet with families of victims and honor lives lost.
The Bidens on Sunday first paid their respects to the victims by visiting a memorial at Robb Elementary School, the site of the horrific massacre which saw 21 people killed, including 19 children. They also attended a Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church before meeting privately with victims’ families.
As the Bidens left the church to meet with families of victims and survivors of the shooting, a crowd gathered outside the church thanked the president for visiting and urged him to “do something” about gun violence.
“We will,” Biden promised.
This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.
