President Biden’s Remarkable Memorial Day Address
--
“We live by the light of the flame of liberty they kept burning,” Mr. Biden told the crowd eloquently. “We’re free because they were brave.”
“My Fellow Americans.”
“We’re gathered at this sacred place in this solemn hour to engage in the most fundamental of undertakings,” President Joe Biden told the assembled crowd of luminaries and dignitaries on Monday, calling Memorial Day, “The Rite of Remembrance.”
“We remember those who gave their all in the service of America, in the service of freedom, in the service of justice. We remember their sacrifice, their valor, and their grace,” said Mr. Biden.
“For while we stand amid monuments of stone, we must never forget that each of these markers, for those known and unknown, here at Arlington and far beyond represent a precious life: a son, a daughter, a mother, a spouse, a brother, a sister, a friend, a neighbor,” he reminded the crowd.
The President demonstrated, as he often does, deep empathy for those coping with the loss of a loved one.
“To all of you who are fighting with the fresh pain of loss, as hard as it is to believe,” Biden promised, “the day will come when the image of your loved one will bring a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eyes.”
“The Bible teaches, ‘Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted,’ said Biden. “That comfort, that reassurance can be a long time in coming, but it will come — I promise you. And my prayer for all of you is that that day will come sooner rather than later.”
President Biden took the opportunity to remind his divided nation that Memorial Day began after the Civil War, to honor those who General John Logan, founder of this day of remembrance, called, “those who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard throughout the land.”
“And so we have and so we do again today,” the President said, “in our time, where the children of sacrifice made by a long line of American service members, each a link in that chain of honor. We live by the light of the flame of liberty they kept burning. We’re free…
