Biden at Arlington on Memorial Day: 'Tomorrow Marks 8 Years Since We Lost Our Son Beau' (May 29, 2023)

President Joe Biden marked Memorial Day 2023 at Arlington National Cemetery, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and then speaking at the 155th National Memorial Day Observance. “POTUS held a salute as the military band played the Star-Spangled Banner,” the White House pool reported. “After, the President attached the wreath to a white stand and made a sign of the cross” [2].

In his speech, Biden turned to his own family. “Tomorrow marks 8 years since we lost our son Beau,” he said [1].

The video above shows Biden at the May 29, 2023, ceremony. Quotes are from the official transcript and pool reports published by the American Presidency Project [1][2].

”What Brought These Men Here?”

Biden opened with history. “One hundred and fifty-five years ago, retired Union General James Garfield spoke here at Arlington, marking our Nation’s first Memorial Day,” he said. Garfield, he recalled, asked: “What brought these men here?” [1]

“It was drizzling as he spoke,” the pool reported, “and the President spoke about the loss of his own son Beau, who died eight years ago tomorrow” [2].

Biden traced the service of those buried at Arlington “from the fields of Yorktown to the shores of Normandy, to the rice paddies of Pusan, to the valleys of Kandahar, to the mountains of Sinjar, and beyond—many of whom never returned home” [1].

”It Was Cancer That Stole Him”

“Our losses are not the same. He didn’t perish in the battlefield. It was cancer that stole him from us a year after being deployed as a major in the United States Army National Guard in Iraq,” Biden said [1].

Beau Biden “served a tour in Iraq from 2008 to 2009” and “passed away from glioblastoma in May 2015 at Walter Reed military hospital in Bethesda, Maryland,” Fox News has reported [3].

Biden recalled his son’s words. “As if I can still hear him saying, ‘Dad—it’s my duty, Dad.’ ‘It’s my duty,’” he said. “Duty. That was the code my son lived by and all those you lost lived by” [1].

”Pits the Size of Football Fields”

He counted his record for the troops. “Over the last 2½ years, we’ve worked to make good on that promise, passing more than 25 bipartisan laws to support our servicemembers, their families, caregivers, and survivors,” Biden said [1].

Biden praised the PACT Act, a law for veterans exposed to burn pits. “Pits the size of football fields that incinerated the wastes of war such as tires, chemicals, jet fuel, and so much more,” he said [1].

“Too many have died—excuse the personal reference—like my son Beau, or like Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson, for whom the act is named,” Biden said [1].

He pointed to Robinson’s daughter, Brielle, in the crowd. After he gave her the pen from the signing, he said, she told him, “Thank you for my daddy” [1].

”Our Democracy Endures”

Biden returned again and again to one theme. The word “democracy” appears nine times in the official transcript of the address [1].

“For our democracy is our strength, the wellspring of possibilities, and the source of endless, endless renewal,” he said. Near the end, he called “the truest memorial to their lives” this: “our actions every day to ensure that our democracy endures, our Constitution endures, and the soul of our Nation and our decency endures” [1].

He closed on the founding. “We’re the only nation in the world built on an idea. Every other nation is formed based on things like geography, ethnicity, religion,” Biden said. “We’re the only nation in the world built on an idea that we’re all created equal” [1].

”I Feel Very Good About It”

Leaving the White House that afternoon, Biden took questions on the new debt-limit deal. Asked whether he was confident it would pass, “he said ‘I feel very good about it,’” the pool reported [2].

What would he tell Democrats with reservations? “Biden said, ‘Talk to me,’” the pool wrote. He also predicted a quick vote: “There is no reason it shouldn’t get done by the 5th. I’m confident that we’ll get a vote in both Houses and we’ll see” [2].

Asked about the 2024 Republican field, Biden said, “I haven’t been able to keep up with it,” while adding that there were a lot of “competent candidates who are trying to get the nomination,” according to the pool [2].

By the Numbers

155th: the National Memorial Day Observance, per the White House [2].
3,000: approximate attendance at the amphitheater, per the White House [2].
8 years: since Beau Biden’s death, per the president [1].
9: times “democracy” appears in the transcript of the address [1].
25: bipartisan laws for servicemembers and their families Biden said had passed in 2½ years [1].
75: years of a desegregated military, which Biden said the nation was marking that year [1].
2008 to 2009: Beau Biden’s tour in Iraq, per Fox News [3].

What Happened Next

The deal became law before the 5th. Biden signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which was “Approved June 3, 2023” [4]. For how his budget director sold it the next day, see HYGO News’ page on the May 30 briefing.

The Iraq line came back. Less than two weeks later in North Carolina, Biden said, “We lost our son in Iraq.” For that speech, see the page on Rocky Mount.