ARLINGTON, Virginia — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, flanked by Defense Secretary Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin, laid a wreath at the burial ground of an unknown soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day in Arlington County, Virginia to honor America’s war dead, including those that have served in America's armed services.
Biden also honored the memory of his late son Beau Biden, who is buried there.
First lady Dr. Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff were also among those in attendance for Monday's ceremony, a somber ceremony that comes as the nation continues to fight a coronavirus pandemic that has claimed the lives of nearly 600,000 Americas since it hit the country with a vengeance in March of 2020.
Biden delivered a 23 minute address and said democracy is at risk.
"Democracy is at risk here at home, and around the world," said Biden, a Democrat who took office in January after unseating then president Donald Trump in November during a contentious election.
The president said that "a struggle for democracy is taking place across the world, " and that "democracy means the rule of the people. The rule of the people. Not the rule of monarchs. Not the rule of the money."
He said that the problems facing the nation represent a 'struggle for the soul of America itself,' a theme the former vice president who served two terms from 2009-2017 with president Barack Obama, frequently promoted during his campaign for president last year.
He noted Monday that some 7,036 service members have died in Afghanistan and Iraq since he was vice president under Obama, the country's first Black president.
"America," said Biden, is 'eternally grateful' to the nation's soldiers and their family for their sacrifices and called America's fallen solders heroes and heroins.
“Here in Arlington lie heroes who gave what President Lincoln called the last full measure of devotion,” Biden said.
The nation's first Black vice president, Vice President Harris said America's service men and women have risked everything to protect the freedoms and liberties of Americans.
“Throughout our history our service men and women have risked everything to defend our freedoms and our country,” Harris said in a Memorial Day twitter posting. “As we prepare to honor them on Memorial Day, we remember their service and their sacrifice.”
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinnewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.
