(NEXSTAR) — An unidentified, lone man was seen kneeling before the grave of President Biden’s late son, Beau, during Biden’s inauguration address Wednesday.
Patricia Talorico, with the Delaware News Journal, took the now-viral photo of the uniformed man, his head bowed and hands clasped, sitting before Beau Biden’s grave at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Cemetery in Greenville, Deleware.
“I couldn’t bring myself to interrupt this poignant, solemn moment,” Talorico said. “I took some photos from a distance, and pulled my car over to a nearby roadway.”
Talorico said she listened to the rest of Biden’s speech and circled back to see if the uniformed man was there, and he was, still kneeling with his head lowered.
“The journalist in me wanted to go back and find out his identity and ask why he was there,” Talorico said. “The person who once received a kind gesture from Beau when I needed it most knew it was a time to be respectful, and I drove away. Some things in life you just let be.”
Beau Biden died on May 30, 2015 at the age of 46, less than two years after he was diagnosed with brain cancer.
While speaking in Delaware on Tuesday, then President-elect Biden told reporters, tears streaming down his face, “I only have one regret, that he’s not here. Because we should be introducing him as president.”