新城堡，德尔。-总统乔·拜登他以个人的方式纪念国家的牺牲，以此来纪念他作为总司令的第一个阵亡将士纪念日周末。周日，他向那些失去的人致敬，同时纪念他已故的儿子博，他是一名老兵，六年前的今天去世了。
随着一场冷雨的降临，拜登在离他威尔明顿家不远的新城堡参加了一年一度的纪念活动，一天前，他计划在阿灵顿国家公墓正式纪念活动中也这样做。
对老拜登来说，他儿子46岁时死于脑癌是家常便饭，这一损失定义了他的大部分世界观，点缀了他的演讲，激起了他对他人痛苦的同情。
对拜登来说，阵亡将士纪念日周末长期以来一直是一个重要的时刻，今年，当总统频繁而动情地谈到自己的损失，同时表达一个国家对其他人牺牲的感激之情时，这一时刻变得更加辛酸。
拜登在特拉华纪念桥阴影下的战争纪念广场的仪式上对一群金星军人家庭和其他退伍军人说:“我对你们为国家做出的持续贡献感激不尽。”。“我知道损失有多痛。”
“他们是我们的守护者，我们是他们遗产的守护者，”拜登在谈到那些在军队服役的人时说。“尽管很痛苦，但我知道你对失去的爱人感到骄傲。”
尽管头顶上有一个帐篷，但当客人们看着一名孤独的军事小号手在特拉华阵亡将士纪念碑前演奏熄灯号时，寒风把雨水吹到了他们身上。拜登似乎并不介意寒冷，他参加了整个75分钟的仪式，并在《上帝保佑美国》的闭幕式上说了这些话。时间到了，他啪的一声向纪念碑敬献的花圈致敬。
几十年来，拜登几乎每年都参加这个仪式，这是自新冠肺炎大流行爆发以来，他第一次出现在去年的活动中，在敬献花圈时被发现戴着面具。
周日仪式前几小时，总统，第一夫人吉尔·拜登和其他家庭成员参加了在当地教堂举行的博·拜登纪念弥撒。仪式结束后，拜登夫妇在教堂外迎接祝福者，一年多来，他们第一次能够在自己的教区收到温暖的拥抱和握手。
拜登一家走向博的坟墓，那是布兰迪湾圣约瑟夫教堂的财产，在标记旁修剪整齐的草坪上插着的几面美国国旗中间留下了鲜花。
博·拜登在宣布竞选州长之前曾担任两届特拉华州司法部长，许多人认为他有着与他父亲入主白宫相同的抱负。博·拜登也在特拉华州国民警卫队服役，当被派往伊拉克时，他被允许穿着印有不同姓氏的制服，这样就不会受到特殊待遇。
拜登周五在弗吉尼亚空军基地讲述的这个故事，是拜登的儿子定义阵亡将士纪念日周末的众多时刻之一。在以对他已故儿子的情感回忆开始后，拜登承认了军人及其家人所做的默默无闻的牺牲。
“你们是美国所能提供的最好的东西，”拜登接着说。
拜登还强调了他最近决定在今年晚些时候从阿富汗撤军，并对在美国最长的战争中多次服役的军人表示感谢。
周日，他在很大程度上回避了国际事务的细节，尽管他承诺在下个月的日内瓦峰会上向俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京(Vladimir Putin)施压，要求其关注人权问题，并表示，现在是向世界(即中国)展示美国准备在总统领导下的四年内向型外交政策后再次领导世界的时候了唐纳德·特朗普。
“是时候提醒每个人我们是谁了，”他说。
For Biden, a deeply personal Memorial Day weekend observance
NEW CASTLE, Del. -- PresidentJoe Bidenmarked his first Memorial Day weekend as commander in chief by honoring the nation’s sacrifices in a deeply personal manner as he paid tribute Sunday to those lost while remembering his late son Beau, a veteran who died six years ago to the day.
As a cold rain fell, Biden made his annual appearance at the commemoration in New Castle, not far from his Wilmington home, a day before he planned to do the same at Arlington National Cemetery on the official observance.
The death of his son from brain cancer at age 46 is ever-present for the elder Biden, with the loss defining so much of his worldview, dotting his speeches and stirring his empathy for others in pain.
The Memorial Day weekend, long a important moment for Biden, took on added poignancy this year as the president spoke frequently and emotionally of his own loss while expressing the gratitude of a nation for the sacrifices of others.
“I can’t thank you enough for the continued service for the country,” said Biden, addressing a crowd of Gold Star military families and other veterans in a ceremony at War Memorial Plaza in the shadow of the Delaware Memorial Bridge. “I know how much the loss hurts.”
“They’re the guardians of us and we’re the guardians of their legacy,” Biden said of those who served in the armed forces. “Despite all the pain, I know the pride you feel in the loved one you have lost.”
Though a tent was overhead, the cold wind whipped the rain onto the guests as they watched a lone military trumpeter play taps at a memorial to Delaware’s fallen troops. Biden appeared to pay the chill no mind, remaining for the entirety of the 75-minute ceremony and mouthing the words to the closing rendition of “God Bless America.” When it was time, he snapped a salute to the wreath laid at the memorial.
Biden had attended the ceremony nearly every year for decades, and it was at last year’s event when he emerged for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, spotted with a mask while laying a wreath.
Hours before Sunday's ceremony, the president, first ladyJill Bidenand other family members attended a memorial Mass for Beau Biden at their local church. After the service, the Bidens greeted well-wishers outside the church and, for the first time in more than a year, were able to receive warm hugs and handshakes at their home parish.
The Bidens walked to Beau’s grave, which is on the property of St. Joseph's on the Brandywine, and left flowers amid several American flags that had been placed on the well-manicured lawn next to the marker.
Beau Biden served two terms as Delaware's attorney general before declaring a run for governor, and many saw in him the same aspirations that brought his father to the White House. Beau Biden also served in Delaware’s National Guard and, when sent to Iraq, received permission to wear a uniform emblazoned with a different last name so as not to receive special treatment.
That story, which Biden told Friday at a Virginia air force base, was one of the many moments in which Biden’s son defined the Memorial Day weekend. After beginning with an emotional remembrance of his late son, Biden acknowledged the unheralded sacrifices made by the service members and their families.
“You are the very best of what America has to offer,” Biden said then.
Biden also underscored his recent decision to pull troops out of Afghanistan later this year, expressing gratitude to service members who took multiple tours of duty in America’s longest war.
He largely avoided the particulars of international affairs on Sunday, though he pledged to press Russia’s Vladimir Putin on human rights during their summit in Geneva next month and said that the moment was right to show the world, and namely China, that the United States was ready to lead again after four years of a largely inward-looking foreign policy under PresidentDonald Trump.
“It’s time to remind everybody who we are,” he said.
