May 29 (UPI) — President Joe Biden delivered a solemn speech at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Monday for the 155th Memorial Day observance ceremony.
Biden said it is “our” duty to ensure that the sacrifice of the lives lost defending the idea of America was not in vain.
“We’re the only nation in the world built on an idea that we are all created equal. We haven’t always lived up to it but we’ve never walked away from it,” he said. “Today, standing together to honor those Americans who dared all and gave all for our nation, we can say clearly we never will.”
The president noted the efforts that have been made to create a more inclusive military, celebrating 75 years since it was desegregated and 75 years since women were fully integrated into the military. Both orders were signed under President Harry Truman in 1948.
The Arlington National Cemetery is the final resting place for an estimated 400,000 Americans, spread across more than 600 acres in 85 sections. Monday’s ceremony was held in section 60, which is dedicated to soldiers who served in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Biden also remembered his son Beau. Tuesday marks eight years since Beau Biden died of a glioblastoma brain tumor after serving in Iraq.
“He didn’t perish on the battlefield. It was cancer that stole him from us after being deployed as a major of the U.S. Army National Guard,” Biden said. “As it is for so many of you, the pain of the loss is with us every day but particularly sharp on Memorial Day.”
Biden remarked that his administration has signed 25 bipartisan laws that support military members and their families, including the PACT Act of 2022. It expands Veterans Affairs health care benefits to veterans that have been exposed to toxic chemicals such as burn pits and Agent Orange. Nearly 3 million Vietnam veterans are estimated to have been exposed to deadly toxins.
Gen. Mark Milley, delivering his last Memorial Day speech as the joint chief’s chair, said the cemetery paints a “picture of the costs required for all of us to remain free.” Gen. Charles Q. Brown, the top officer in the Air Force, has been nominated to succeed Milley. He would be the first Black chairman in 30 years.
