US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris attended together for the first time since his election defeat, commemorating Veterans Day on November 11 in Arlington National Cemetery.
They laid a wreath at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during a solemn ceremony. During his final speech as commander in chief of the U.S. military at the cemetery’s Memorial Amphitheater, Biden expressed gratitude for the dedication and sacrifices made by America’s military veterans and their families, particularly recognizing those who lost their lives in service.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to lead you, to serve you, to care for you, to defend you, just as you have defended us, generation after generation after generation,” Biden said. “You are the greatest fighting force, and this is not hyperbole, the greatest fighting force in the history of the world.”
He discussed his travels to U.S. military installations around the world and historic military sites such as Valley Forge and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Biden also announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs is expanding the types of cancers covered by the PACT Act, a law he signed to expand health care services to veterans who served on military bases where smoke toxic escaping from the “burning pits”.
More than a million veterans and families have been helped through the law, he said.
The president opened his brief speech by declaring that America’s “truly sacred obligation” is to prepare those it sends into danger and to care for them when they return home or not.
“To all military families, to everyone whose loved one is still missing or missing, to all Americans who are grieving the loss of a loved one who was in uniform, Jill and I want you to know that we see you, we thank you and we will never stop working to fulfill our sacred obligation to you and your family,” he told the AP news agency.