US President Joe Biden paid tribute to his late son Beau on the sixth anniversary of his death while delivering his Memorial Day speech on Sunday.
“This is a hard day for us,” President Biden said while speaking in front of the veterans and families of fallen military members during remarks at Veterans Memorial Park near the Delaware Memorial Bridge.
“Six years ago today, Hunter lost his dad, and I lost my son,” Biden said of losing his son Beau in 2015 to brain cancer. “Beau didn’t die in the line of duty, but he was serving a Delaware National Guard unit in Iraq for a year.”
“That was one of the proudest things he did in his life,” the president continued. “So thank you for allowing us to grieve together today.”
Beau Biden —who accomplished the rank of major— joined the Delaware Army National Guard in 2003 and attended JAG School at the University of Virginia.
Beau was attorney general of Delaware for eight years and died on May 30, 2015, at the age of 46 from brain cancer.
In October 2008, he was deployed to Iraq, the month before his father Joe was elected vice president to serve with Barack Obama for his first term.
Beau came back from Iraq in September 2009 after completing his yearlong tour on active duty.
Beau was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his military service in Iraq and was posthumously awarded the Legion of Merit for his service in the Delaware Conspicuous Service Cross and the Delaware National Guard.
President Biden also reminded the people that he carries a card with him at all times with the ‘exact number of American troops’ who died in Iraq and Afghanistan over the two decades years of war – 7,036 military members, he said.
Earlier on Sunday morning, the President went to the 7:30 am mass service in Wilmington.
After the church service, Biden, his wife, and first lady Jill Biden, their daughter Ashley and Beau’s son Hunter walked to Beau’s grave, which is located on the grounds of St. Joseph on the Brandywine.
After visiting Beau’s grave, Biden then went to the Veterans Memorial Park in Wilmington where he delivered a speech to commemorate Memorial Day.
The President spends most of his weekends away from Washington, D.C. at his home in Wilmington, Delaware. The trip almost always includes him attending at least one church service.