On the 10th anniversary of his son’s death, President Joe Biden urged fellow families of deceased service members to support veterans and their families regardless of politics.
“The women and men we honor today are no longer with us, but you can still hear their echoes. Literally, can’t you?… They’re asking, what will we do?… They’re asking us to stay true to what America stands for,” he said in remarks at a Delaware Memorial Day event on May 30. “They’re not asking us to do their jobs. They’re asking us to do our job, to protect our nation in our time now, to defend democracy, be part of something bigger than ourselves. So today, let’s renew our pledge to honor our heroes.”
The remarks, at an annual Memorial Day event at Veterans Memorial Park in New Castle, Delaware, came 10 years to the day of Beau Biden’s death. Beau Biden served in Iraq for the Delaware National Guard and died in 2015 at age 46.
“Being with all of you, quite frankly, makes things a little bit easier,” Biden said. “Thank you for allowing me to grieve with you.”
He mentioned that when Beau was young he used to come with him to the event.
Biden also spoke at the annual New Castle event in 2021.
The comments were Biden’s first public speech since he announced he’d been diagnosed with aggressive Stage 4 prostate cancer and since a book was published raising questions about his physical and mental fitness while he was president.
On May 29, President Donald Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt called on former first lady Jill Biden to speak out about Biden’s alleged mental decline while in office, saying she had conspired to keep her husband’s health from the American people.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden urges Americans to support vets on anniversary of son’s death
