beau biden the soldier. it was in iraq when i had the incredible honor to serve beside him and really get to know him. it's sometimes hard to explain to other bond formed between soldiers in combat the shared commitment to mission, the unspoken reliance on each other, the indefinable trust that is forged. it is a brotherhood that only a few understand. i always believe an individual's character defines them as a person and a man's character is truly revealed under the most extreme and stressful conditions. i was able to witness firsthand beau's incredible character. one principle with deep moral and ethical roots. he under the importance of maintaining trust with his

fellow soldiers and with the public to gain justice and the victims he fought so hard for and with everyone he came in contact with. and he did it by just smiling, listening, and showing genuine compassion to all. he cared deeply for his fellow human beings and always treated everyone with dignity and respect. beau biden's character was genuine. he had a natural charisma that few people possess. people willingly wanted to follow him, completely trusted his judgment and believed in him. frankly, he was selfless to a fault, always supporting his personal needs to the welfare of everyone else to the soldiers in his unit and everyone around

him. he was incredibly proud to serve in the delaware national guard and he would tell me over and over and over again as we had many discussions, sir, i'm just another soldier, doing my best and my job to accomplish the mission. he was committed to his community, to his home state, and to a nation. frankly a nation that i believe one day beau biden would some day lead. traits only witnessed in the greatest leaders. inspirational, humble intelligence insightful, always building a team and a man of immortgage tall and personal courage. i am by no means political in nature but i seal valley in serving our government and before beau was redeployed i

called him in to talk to me. this was just after senator biden became vice president biden and i spent about ten minutes talking to him thinking about running for senator because i thought it was important to have people with military experience in congress and beau listened intently looked at me straight in the eye for about ten minutes, and as he always did, he said sir, thank you so much i appreciate you so much you honor me with your words. but he then looked at me in the eye and said, sir, i have much work left to do in delaware. i have much work left to help the people in delaware. i must finish what i started. it is really important to me. that is a man of great character. a man who understands commitment. that was beau biden. to beau's family, i want you to know linda and i stand with you and will always be there for you.

beau was a soldier and also a dear friend and someone i personally admired. and as i look for the perfect words to say today, i actually think back to 2012 when you, sir, vice president biden, addressed the surviving members of our military forces who gave the ultimate sacrifice. you spoke about a day that would come when the thought of their son or daughter or husband or wife or brother and sister would bring a smile to their lips before it brought a tear to their eye. halli hallie hunter, and jill mr. vice president, ashley and hunter that day will come. beau's enduring presence brings us strength and fills our hearts with joy and with smiles abound. beau was an extraordinary person and we will cherish the memories of him for a lifetime. one's legacy is defined by those

we have touched, those we have influenced and those we have loved. although beau's life was much too short, his legacy will live on in the thousands he touched, thes nows he influenced, and the many he loved. i suggest we celebrate beau's life by following in his legacy find the best in people and dedicate our lives to making world a better place, living our lives and changing the world one person at a time. do this, and beau biden will live in each of us and will never be forgotten. so on behalf of a grateful nation i would like to award the legion of merit to nathan beau biden the legion of guard

as a soldier advocate, and american patriot. if you could please read the citation. citation. >> permanent order 154-2. biden, joseph robinette iii major. the following award is announced. the legion of merit for exceptionally meritorious service while assigned to positions of increasing responsibility in the army judge advocate general corps kl m.i.p. nating for joint force headquarters detachment delaware national gar. major biden demonstrated extraordinary integrity, initiative leadership and outstanding professional judgment throughout his 11-year career as a judgment advocate

general corps officer. his achievements are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the army judge advocate general corps, the delaware army national guard, and the united states army signed timothy cavity lieutenant general, united states army director army national guard.

>> a man or an irish poet is original when he speaks the truth that has always been known to all good men. beau biden was an original. he was a good man. man of character. man who loved deeply and was loved in return. your eminences, your excellencies general odierno,

distinguished guests, to hallie natalie, and hunter, to hunter kathleen ashley, howard the rest of beau's beautiful family friends, colleagues, to joe and to jill we are here to grieve with you, but more importantly we're here because we love you. without love life can be cold and it can be cruel. sometimes cruelty is deliberate. the actions of bullies or bigots or the inaction of those indifferent to another's pain. but often cruelty is simply born

of life a matter of fate or god's will beyond our mortal powers to comprehend. to suffer such faithless seemingly random cruelty can harden the softest hearts or shrink the sturdiest. it can make one mean or bitter or full of self-pity. or to paraphrase an old proverb, it can make you beg for a lighter burden. but if you're strong enough it can also make you ask god for broader shoulders, shoulders broad enough to bear not only your own burdens, but the

burdens of others shoulders broad enough to shield those who need shelter the most. to know beau biden is to know which choice he made in his life. to know joe and the rest of the biden family is to understand why beau lived the life he did. for beau a cruel twist of fate came early. the car accident that took his mom and his sister and confined beau and hunter, then still toddlers to hospital beds at christmastime. but beau was a biden and he learned early the biden family rule. if you have to ask for help it's too late. it meant you were never alone.

you don't even have to ask because someone is always there for you when you need them. and so after the accident aunt valarie rushed in to care for the boys and to help raise them joe continued public service, but shunned the parlor games at washington choosing instead the daily commute home maintained for decades that would let him meet his most cherished duty to see his kids off to school to kiss them at night, to let them know that the world was stable and that there was firm ground under their feet. as joe himself confessed to me, he did not just do this because the kids needed him. he did it because he needed those kids.

and somehow beau sensed that. how understandably and deeply hurt his family and his father was. and so rather than use his childhood trauma as justification for a life of self-pity or self-centeredness, that very young boy made a very grown up decision. he would live a life of meaning. he would live a life for others. he would ask god for broader shoulders. beau would guide and look out for his younger brother. he would embrace his new mom. apparently the two boys sheepishly asking their father when they could all marry jill.

and throughout his life no one would make jill laugh harder. he would look after their baby sister ashley. he would forever be the one to do the right thing, careful not to give his family or his friends cause for concern. it's no secret that a lot of what made beau the way he was was just how much he loved and admired his dad. he studied law like his dad, even choosing the same law school. he chased public service like his dad, believing it to be a noble and important pursuit. from his dad he learned how to get back up when life knocked him down. he learned that he was no higher than anybody else and no lower

than anybody else something joe god got from his mom, by the way. and he learned how to make everybody else feel like we matter because his dad taught him that everybody matters. he even looked and sounded like joe, although i think joe would be the first to acknowledge thabo was not great. joe 2.0. but as much as folks reminded joe of joe, he was very much his own man. he was an original. he was a sign of an incredible family who brushed away the possibility of privilege for the harder better reward of earning his own way.

he was a soldier who dodged glory and exuded true humility. a prosecutor who defended the defenseless. the rare politician who collected more fan votes, and the rare public figure who prioritized his private life above all others. beau didn't cut corners. he turned down an appointment to be delaware's attorney general so he could win it fair and square. when the field was clear for him to run for the senate he chose to finish his job as a.g. instead. he didn't do these things to gain favor with a cynical public. it's just who he was.

in his 20s he and his friend were stopping for speeding outside scranton and the officer recognized the name on the license and because he was a fan of joe's work with law enforcement, he wanted to let beau off with a warning, but beau made him write that ticket. beau didn't trade on his name. after 9/11 he joined the national guard. he felt it was his obligation, part of what those browner erbroader shoulders are for. he did his duty to his country and deployed to iraq and general odierno eloquently spoke to major biden's service. what i can tell you is when he was loading out to ship out at dover, there was a lot of press that wanted to interview him. beau refused. he was just another soldier. i saw him when i visited iraq.

he conducted them the same way. his deployment was hard on hallie and the kids like it was for other families over the last 14 years. it was hard on joe. it was hard on jill. it's partly why jill threw herself into work with military families with so much intensity. that's how you know when jill thunders may god protect our troops in every speech she does. she means it so deeply. now, like his father beau did not have a mean bone in his body. the cruelty he'd endured in his life didn't make him hard. it made him compassionate, empathetic but it did make him a bore to bullies.

joe's father grandfather, thought the most egregious sinuous to use your power to inflilkt pain on another, so beau squared his shoulders to fight for people who endure thad kind of abuse. he fought for homeowners who were cheated, people who were scammed. he set up awent off bullies himself. set up a program that went all those who targeted other children. he brought in experts to help spare both the children tharnld parents for their trauma. that's who beau was. someone who cared. someone who charmed you and disarmed you and put you at

ease. when he'd have to attend a fancy fund-raiser with people who took themselves way too seriously, he'd walk over to you and whisper something wildly inappropriate in your ear. the son of a senator a major in the army the most popular elected official in delaware -- i'm sorry, joe -- but he was not above dancing in nothing but a sombrero and shorts at thanksgiving that would shake loose a laugh from the people he loved, and through it all, he was the consummate public servant, a notebook in his back pocket at all times so he could write down the problems of everyone he met and go back to the office to get them fixed. because he was a biden, the titles that come with family

husband, father son, brother, uncle, those were the ones beau valued above any other. this was a man who at the democratic national convention didn't spend all his time in back rooms with donors or glad handing. instead he rode the escalators in the arena with his son, up and down up and down again and again, knowing just like joe had learned what ultimately mattered in life. you know anyone can make a name for themselves in this reallty tv age. especially in today's politics. if you're loud enough controversial enough you can get some attention. but to make that name mean

something, to have it associated with dignity and integrity, that is rare. there's no shortcut to get it. it's not something you can buy. but if you do right by your children maybe you can pass it on on. and what greater inheritance is there? what greater inheritance to be part of family that passes on the values of what it means to be a great parent that passes on the values of what it means to be a true citizen. that passes on the values of what it means to give back fully and freely without expecting anything in return.

that's what our country was built on men like beau. that's who built it. families like this. we don't have kings or queens or lords. we don't have to be born into money to have an impact. we don't have to step on one another to be successful. we have this remarkable privilege of being able to earn what we get out of life with the knowledge that we are no higher than anybody else or lower than anybody else. we know that it's not just because it is in our founding documents but because families like the bidens have made it so. because people like beau have made it so.

he did in 46 years what most of us couldn't do in 146. he left nothing in the tank. he was a man who led a life where the means was as important as the ends. and the example he set made you want to be a better dad or a better son or a better brother or sister better at your job, a better soldier. he made you want to be a better person person. isn't that finally the measure of a man? the way he lives, how he treats others no matter what life may throw at him.

we do not know how long we've got here. we don't know when fate will intervene. we cannot discern god's plan. what we do know is that with every minute that we've got, we can live our lives in way that takes nothing for granted. we can love deeply. we can help people who need help. we can teach our children what matters and pass on empathy and compassion and selflessness. we can teach them to have broad shoulders. to the biden family this

sprawling intimate clan i know thabo's passing has left a gaping void in the world. hallie i can only imagine the burdens you've been carrying on your shoulders these past couple of years. it's because you gave everything that he could give everything to us and just as you were there for him, we'll be there for you. to natalie and hunter there aren't words big enough to describe how much your dad loved you, how much he loved your mom. but i will tell you what. michelle and i and sasha and malia, we've become part of the biden clan. we're honorary members now and biden family rule applies. we're always here for you. we always will be. my word as a biden. to joe and jill just like

everybody else here michelle and i thank god you are in our lives. taking this ride with you is one of the great pleasures of our lives. joe, you are my brother. i am grateful every day that you've got such a big heart and a big soul and those broad shoulders. i couldn't admire you more. i got to know joe's mom, katherine eugenia finegan biden before she passed way. she was on stage with us when we were first elected. and i know she told joe once that out of everything bad that happens to you, something bad will come if you look hard enough. and i suppose she was channeling that same irish poet with whom i began today, patrick cavanaugh, when he wrote, and i said let grief be a fallen leaf at the dawning of the day.

as hard as it is right now throw all the heartache and through all the tears, it is our obligation our obligation to beau to think not about what was and what might have been but instead to think about what is because of hum. think about the day of the dawns for children who are officerer because of beau whose lives are fuller because of him. think about the day of the dawns for parents who rest easier and families who are freer because of him. some folks may never know that their lives are better because of beau biden, but that's okay. certainly for beau a claim was never the point of public

service. the lines of well-wishers who have been here all week they know. the white house mail room that's been overflowing with letters from people, those folks know. the soldiers who served with bow, who joined the national guard because of him. the workers of verdes who still have their home because of him and who thanked him for bussing tables one busy night, the students in newark who remember the time he talks with them for hour s hours inexhaustible, even after hours of speech, passing the national guard fitness test to one who wrote to say i love the way he loved his family.

and the stranger who wrote from halfway across the country just to say, the only thing we can hope for is that our children make us proud by making a difference in the world. beau has done that and then some. the world noticed. jill joe, hallie hunter and natalie, the world noticed. they noticed. they felt it. his presence. beau lives on in the lives of others. and isn't that -- isn't that the whole point of our time here? to make this country we love fair and more just. not just for natalie and hunter and naomi or finegan or macy or

malia or sasha. it's for every child. isn't that what this amazing journey we've been on is all about, to make this journey better for the next generation. beau figured that out so early in life. what an inheritance beau left us. what an example he set. to our great good fortune in our youth, our hearts were touched with fire said oliver wendell holmes jr. but above all, we have learned that weather a man accepts from fortune and spade and will look downward and dig or from aspiration her acts and accord and will scale the ice the one and only success which it is his

to command is to bring to his work a mighty heart. beau biden brought to his work a mighty heart. he brought to his family a mighty heart. what a good man. what an original. may god bless his memory and the lives of all he touched.

>> there are no words that could adequately describe my love admiration and adoration for my brother. nothing i say will give justice to what he means to me to us. and when trying to recall certain memories i am at a loss because my life is a collage of memories and moments.

beau was a constant presence every day of my life. when i was in first grade, i drew a picture of what made me happy, and it was me holding hands with my two brothers and i wrote, happyiness is being with my brothers. it was true then and remained true throughout my life. i feel like the luckiest kid sister to be raised and built by two extraordinary men. although as my husband sometimes hey didn't read all the directions. it's impossible to talk about beau without talking about hunter. they were inseparable and shared a love that was unconditional. although beau was one year and one day older, hunter was the wind beneath beau's wings. hunt gave him the courage and confidence to fly.

beau trusted and believed in hunter more than anyone else. hunter inspired him with his wisdom compassion and independent spirit. hunter gave beau strength comfort, and courage. there wasn't one decision where hunter wasn't consulted first, not one day that passed where they didn't speak, and not one road traveled where they weren't each other's co-pilot. hunter was beau's confidante his home. when i was born i was welcomed with open arms and held tightly by both beaui ex-and huntie as i accordingly called them my whole life. the boys named me i was theirs and i felt as though they were mine. being with hunter and our family was the only place thabo wanted to be and he is with us forever.

as a kid sister, i always wanted to be by his side. through his high school and college years i was allowed to hang around as long as i sang "fire on the mountain" by the grateful dead. he would take me to the university of pennsylvania even though the most unpopular thing to do was to take bring your 8-year-old sister to spend the night at your college apartment. but beau didn't care. it was just the way things were going to be. i hung around beau so much that his friends nicknamed me flea. beau was my first phone call any time i needed support and frankly my first line of defense before mom and dad. there were countless arguments at the dinner table, countless conversations where beau would torture me for hours until i realized what he was saying was the right thing to do. he never judged. he just listened and offered his

hand his shoulder his wise advice and his love. i could just look at him and he knew instantly what i was thinking and always gave a nod a look a response that eased me. being with family was beau's favorite pastime, whether just sitting on our parents' porch, fishing with natalie and hunter or eating around ouren kitchen terrible. he always wants us around and always wanted to be around. he loved our family trips, especially our thanksgivings spent in nantucket, a week to read talk walk the town and sit around the fire. since i can remember the week of thanksgiving my brothers would come get me out of class and pile up in the jeep wag near and travel seven hours, my favorite car ride. beau loved it so much that nantucket is where he proposed to hallie and where they wed.

he was the constant anchor for me, my father, my mother our brothers he was the anchor the captain of our lives. he was my first love and what a beautiful example of love he provided. my brothers brought my husband to me. meeting him first in 2008 at a fund-raiser and spending time after, hunter came home to tell me about this incredibly handsome good man whom beau and he had met. at the time i dismissed it but two years later in beau's hospital room dressed in my cap and gown after graduating with my masters, i met the man who would become my husband and beau and hunt's brother. beau brought thourd this family. he knew we would need him. his incredible gift to us.

beau also brought us our sister hallie who he loved with all his heart and married her with incredible strength and determination. i spent numerous nights eating dinner and just hanging out mediating the banter between them. they had an effortless understanding and love. when the night settled in they could always be found curled up on the couch, often with beau begging hallie to rub his feet watching their favorite shoes. beau gave us natalie and hunter who embody him and who are as brave, smart, and as compassionate as their father. natalie, a natural born leader and hunter a young sharer and protector. beau loves life and never complained with one exception. there was nothing he dis-liked more than people worrying about him. he selflessly took on everyone else's worries and had a "we

will get through this" attitude. he taught us to never give up on ourselves or each other. i had the tragic privilege of going to chemo appointments with beau every other friday. we would go out for breakfast afterward, sometimes just walk the city or go get his hair cut. i will forever treasure our time together the man m conversation we had about life. during breakfast he would often make me listen to what i thought was his thyme song "you get what you give" by the free radicals. even though beau never gave up fighting and his will to live was stronger than most think he knew this day might have come. the worlds to the skong are this whole damn world could fall apart, you'll be okay. you're in my hart. you'll be okay.

i'm right behind. in retrospect i think beau played that song during our mornings together not for him, but for me to remember to not give up or to let sadness consume me consume us. from the time i was young, beauie never let me get off the phone saying good-bye. it was always see you. love you. beauie we will see your face, your eyes every day we wake. we will hear you laugh we will see your smile, we will feel your touch. you will be with us for every decision we make in moments of sadness and struggles and celebration and joy. we will see you everywhere we go in the beauty of nature in a smile from strangers and in your beautiful children who we will take care of like you took care of all of us. you are etched in every fiber of

our being. you are the bone of our bones, the flesh of our flesh, and blood of our blood. you are ever present in our lives today, tomorrow and forever. thank you for all that you gave us and will continue to give us as we continue linking in your honor as only you would want. as long as i have hunt i have you. so beauie see you. love you so much. >> i used to have to follow my

brother. now i have to follow my sister. makes it very hard. on behalf of our family i want to recognize and thank all the religious leaders here to celebrate my brother's life. it means such a great deal to us and you know it would mean a great deal to him. thank you. general, thank you for being here today. beau was so proud of his service to this nation and he was especially proud to serve under your leadership. mr. president, you know how much he loved you. thank you for all that you've done for our family. michelle. particularly these difficult days. that was an incredible tribute. thank you. ashley

ashley beau is so proud of you. he was so touched by the way you cared about people the depth of your emotions. he showed the joy you bring not only to our family but to the lives of so many people. he loved the way you laugh. he loved your smile. and he was so proud to have been able to work with you in service of the people of delaware. and he loved that you married howard. he loved that very much. and he loved the fact that he was the catalyst that brought howard into our family. and i loved the fact that he gave me another big brother.

natalie, hunter we've talked about this over and over and over again. your daddy's going to always be with us. your daddy's always going to be by your side. your daddy will always love you. and i can promise you will always be loved. we are a family whose love knows no bounds. he is a part of you. natalie, he's that piece of you that allows you to be so caring and compassionate. he's the reason why you're so protective of your brother. it's the same way he was with

me. hunter robert hunter biden ii. he tied you and me together forever. and you are his calm and his focus. you're so much like your daddy. you know watching the two of you fish at the end of the dock is like seeing the two image oss of the same person. and just like aunt valarie was there for daddy and me, always with unconditional love, just

like we had unklecle jimmy, uncle frankie, uncal jack uncle john mama dadda, you have your aunt ashley your aunt kathleen your papa and nini and your nana and pop. we will surround you with the same love a love so big and so beautiful, the same love that made your daddy and me will now make you. and the love that your daddy had for you is the same love he had for your mom. he loved your mom so much.

no one gave him more confidence and courage. your mom is the most fiercely loyal and protective person i know know and i don't have to tell you that she would do anything for you. she was more devoted to your daddy than anyone else in the world. she would do anything for him and she did everything for him. she gave your daddy so much love that he was able to give his love to everyone he met. your mom shared your daddy with the world. most important to me she shared

him with aunt kathleen his confidante and co-conspirator usually conspiring against me. and your cousins, naomi and finegan, amazing. they thought of your daddy as a part of me. and, you know that your daddy is a part of me and i will always be a part of you. we will all always be a part of you. we will always be one family because we always have been one family. you are at the center of the greatest love you will ever know

know. mom mom, you mended all of our hearts you made the three of us whole. you gave us ashley. the greatest gift imaginable. you gave beau his strength his steadiness and you gave him a love that only a mother to give. you loved him with all of your heart. and we all know there was no one in the world you were more proud of. you adored beau. i loved watching that. and he adored you.

and it's your strength and it's your steadiness that holds this family together. and i know that you will make us whole again. the first memory i have is of lying in a hospital bed next to my brother. i was almost 3 years old. i remember my brother was one year and one day older than me holding my hand staring into my eyes saying "i love you, i love

you, i love you," over and over and over again. and in the 42 years since he never stopped holding my hand. he never stopped telling me just how much he loves me. but mine wasn't the only hand beau held. beau's was the hand everyone reached for in their time of need. beau's was the hand that was reaching for yours before you even had to act. that is my brother's story. that is his story.

not his accomplishments. they were many. special assistant to the u.s. attorney general, lead adviser in postwar kosovo attorney general, became the most popular elected official in his state and a major in the army national guard. but to me my brother is not defined by his extraordinary resume. he's defined by the quality of his character. the boy, the man who always held you close the one who always made you feel safe the one who always made you feel braver than you might have been the one you could always count on for a special kindness, the one to

listened the one who was always there when you needed him most. the one who gave you credit for the things he did. he was our leader. and he never asked to lead. he was our leader who never judged. who only inspired us through his example. he was clarity. a clarity you could step into. he was the clarity of a lake. a clarity that you could float in. a clarity that was contagious.

he was that clarity not just for his family but for everyone who called him friend and his friends were legion. and those friends can attest to the multitude of times in which beau came to their aid without ever having to be asked. that's why when we were kids we called him the sheriff. it wasn't because he was stern or unforgiving. he made us laugh more than anybody. he had more fun than all of us. we called him the sheriff because we all knew if we were ever in trouble, if we ever needed someone to lean on if we ever needed to find the right answer we all could turn to beau. growing up every mom every one of my friends knew, that if you

were with beau you were going to be all right. true. he was the sheriff who bailed us out, who kept us safe who showed us the path home. he watched over all of us. not one of us ever had to ask him. he was simply there. always when we needed him. and he never expected anything in return. and you were never in his shadow. we were always under his wing. from the time we were kids mistakes were neither too great to be forgiven nor too small to be consoled. your problems were beau's problems. but he seemed to carry them so

effortlessly. like he carried so many of our secrets. you unburdened yourself to beau. knowing he would never breach your trust. he was the person you just wanted to be near because you knew he would make you smile, make you laugh, let you cry. he would just let you be you. and not only would he love you regardless he'd love you more because of it. there are so many people in this church today across the country, who have legitimate right to say beau biden was my best friend. he was the best friend any of us ever had.

in shakespeare's words he was a man taken for all in all, i shall not look upon his like again. that's who my brother was as a man. in everything that he did. as if the most important thing in your world was the most important thing in his. and it was genuine. it seemed every decision he made was guided by that same selflessness. he didn't join the army to be seen in uniform or to pad his resume. he didn't need to. he joined because he thought it was the right thing to do. he didn't deploy to iraq to earn a bronze star. he went because he thought it was the right thing to do.

did he ever tell any one of you that he was a bronze star recipient? one of his closest friends said to me the other day, i can't believe beau never told me he was awarded the bronze star. beau simply thought it was a privilege to serve. those who didn't know my brother thought he went into politics because if your name's biden that's just what you do. but my brother went into politics because for him it was the right thing to do. it was the clearest path to helping as many people as he possibly could. and i know where my brother learned that. he learned that from my dad.

he learned that public life was not about serving yourself rather it was about the privilege to serve those who can't always serve themself. someone once said don't wait to make your son a great man, make him a great boy. from the time we left the hospital 42 years ago my dad spent every moment that he possibly could with us. no event was too small. no event was too great. we traveled with him up and down the state, across the country, around the world. we went to thousands of speeches chicken dinners, debates. we rode the train with him for thousands of miles.