Freedom has never been free. Democracy has always required champions – Joe Biden. Such a statement made President of the US at the 154th National Memorial Day Observance

“And in this moment, when a war of aggression is once more being waged by Russia to snuff out the freedom, the democracy, the very culture and identity of neighboring Ukraine, we so - we see so clearly all that’s at stake.

Freedom has never been free. Democracy has always required champions.

And, today, in the perennial struggle for democracy and freedom, Ukraine and its people are on the frontlines fighting to save their nation.

But their fight is part of a larger fight that unites all people. It is a fight that so many of the patriots, whose eternal rest is here in these hallowed grounds, were part of.

A battle between democracy and autocracy, between liberty and repression, between appetites and ambition of a few who forever seek to dominate the lives and liberties of many.

A battle for essential democratic principles - the rule of law, free and fair elections, freedom to speak and write and to assemble, freedom to worship as one chooses, freedom of the press - principles that are essential for a free society”, - said Joe Biden.