Pol Light Moment #11 is when Joe Biden shared about losing his wife and daughter in a car accident to encourage families of fallen soldiers for a Memorial Day 2012 observance. Joe Biden has been the Vice President of the United States from 2009 to the present. Prior to that he served as a United States Senator for Delaware from 1973-2009.
Joe Biden lost his first wife and their 18 month daughter in a tragic car accident on December 18, 1972, while he was preparing to start his first term as a United States Senator (Source). His two sons were seriously injured in the accident as well but survived.
On Friday, May 25, 2012, Vice-President Joe Biden shared a new aspect about his loss at an event for TAPS (Tragedy Assistance for Survivors) in Virginia. In the speech for the first time Joe Biden revealed about how he understood feelings of suicide after the loss. His remarks in the speech included this:
I probably shouldn't say this with the press here, but it's more important, you're more important. For the first time in my life, I understood how someone could consciously decide to commit suicide. Not because they were deranged, not because they were nuts, because they had been to the top of the mountain, and they just knew in their heart they would never get there again (ABC News, Devin Dwyer, Joe Biden Reflects on Immense Grief after Loss of Wife, Daughter, May 25, 2012).Joe Biden went on in the speech to encourage those who had experienced loss of someone in the armed services, saying, "There will come a day, I promise you, and your parents as well, when the thought of your son or daughter or your husband or wife brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye (Source)."
The following is a news feature on this moment by the Rachel Maddow show.
Joe Biden has been featured on other posts at Pol Light. To view them search the blog with the label "Joe Biden".
Pol Light does not endorse political candidates. We present a brighter side to politics when they are found on either side of the aisle. We don't have to agree with all of a person's politics to recognize these bright moments.
Photo: The photo of Joe Biden is in the Public Domain and is the official United States federal government photo of Joe Biden.
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