(Washington) Joe Biden paid tribute Thursday to veterans, “pillars of America,” in a ceremony at Arlington Military Cemetery in suburban Washington, marking the centenary of the burial of the Unknown Soldier.
“You are the backbone of America, its pillar,” said the American president before saluting the memory of General Colin Powell, who died on October 18, “a son of immigrants who became chief of staff and secretary of State, and a man who has earned the respect of the American people for his leadership qualities in uniform and after.
Heavily criticized by veterans of the war in Afghanistan for the chaotic withdrawal from Kabul at the end of August after 20 years of anti-jihadist military intervention, Mr. Biden recalled that “for two decades, the lives of our soldiers and our veterans and those of their families have been shaped by the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan ”.
“Since September 11, hundreds of thousands of Americans have served in the military. Many are still in danger today and we must not forget them, ”he recalled, referring to the American soldiers still deployed in Iraq and in eastern Syria to fight the jihadists of the Islamic State group.
His son fought in Iraq
The American president, whose son Beau fought in Iraq before succumbing to a brain tumor, recalled that during their mission, “many veterans, their families and their caregivers, went through hell” .
The American president had just laid a wreath on this tomb accessible in recent days to the public for the first time in 100 years. Usually required to keep a distance from this immaculate monument erected on the heights of Arlington Cemetery, which overlooks the US capital, thousands of Americans have laid flowers at the foot of the mausoleum since the start of the week.
To mark the centenary of the tribute to the first unknown soldier, who died on a French battlefield in World War I and was buried in 1921 in Arlington, soldiers dressed in period uniforms marched through the aisles to symmetry perfect cemetery.
Since then, two other unknown soldiers have joined him in this mausoleum: one killed in World War II and one during the Korean War. A fourth unknown soldier, killed during the Vietnam War, was buried in the same location but his remains were later identified and he was exhumed and buried in Missouri, as his family wishes.