'Those silent stones.' Joe Biden pays Memorial Day tribute at Arlington National Cemetery

WASHINGTON − President Joe Biden implored the nation to "never forget the price that was paid to protect our democracy" as he honored fallen soldiers during Memorial Day remarks at National Arlington Cemetery.

"Our troops have fought for our democracy and, if necessary, died for it," Biden said after laying a wreath decorated with flowers and a red, white and blue bow at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. "Today, their service and sacrifice and that of their families echoes far beyond those silent stones out there."

The president, as he has in past years, remarked on the death of his own son, Beau Biden, an Iraq War veteran who died of brain cancer in late May 2015.

"He didn't perish in the battlefield. It was cancer that stole him from us a year after being deployed," Biden said. "As it is for so many of you. The pain of his loss is with us every day but (is) particularly sharp on Memorial Day."

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Biden said Americans have a responsibility to "ensure that sacrifice was not in vain." He said the nation must work together to ensure that democracy, the Constitution and "our decency" endure.

"Together, we're not just the fortunate inheritors of their legacy," Biden said of the fallen. "We must be the keeper of their mission, the bearers of the flame of freedom."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden honors fallen on Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery