President Joe Biden says in a Memorial Day address Americans “must never forget” the price paid by troops who “dared all and gave all” to protect their democracy. As is customary on Memorial Day, Biden laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery. Biden has taken pride that his administration has overseen a time of relative peace for the U.S. military after two decades of war in Afghanistan and Iraq. It’s been nearly 21 months since the Democratic president ended the United States’ longest war, in Afghanistan. Biden and the first lady plan to spend the rest of the holiday at their home near Wilmington, Delaware.
President Joe Biden lauded the sacrifice of generations of U.S. troops who “dared all and gave all” fighting for their country and called on Americans to ensure their “sacrifice was not in vain” in Memorial Day observances at Arlington National Cemetery.
Biden was joined at the traditional wreath-laying ceremony by first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Harris’ husband, Douglas Emhoff, for the 155th National Memorial Day Observance. He had a moment of contemplation in front of the wreath, which was adorned with flowers and a red, white and blue bow, and then bowed his head in prayer.
“We must never forget the price that was paid to protect our democracy,” Biden said later in an address at the Memorial Amphitheater. “We must never forget the lives these flags, flowers and marble markers represent.”
”Every year we remember,” he said. “And every year it never gets easier.”
Monday’s federal holiday honoring America’s fallen service members came a day after Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached final agreement on a deal that would raise America’s debt limit and that now awaits approval by Congress.
