July 4 (UPI) — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden celebrated Independence Day on Tuesday evening by hosting military families with a Fourth of July barbecue at the White House that was accompanied by live music and followed by an extravagant display of fireworks.
The event began at around 5 p.m. out front of one of the White House’s most iconic features, the South Portico, with active-duty and National Guard military families on the South Lawn.
Following a prayer by Chaplain John Barkemeyer, Jill Biden took to the lectern to welcome military families to the White House.
“You are the brave and the bold, and the nearly 1% of Americans who have made the choice to keep us all safe,” she said. “We are so grateful for all that you do. And our thoughts are with those serving overseas.”
The president then spoke, saying it’s an honor to celebrate the day with military families, whom he described as “the sinew, the backbone, the reality of why we’re who we are.”
“You remind us that democracy is never, never, never guaranteed. Every generation must fight to maintain it. We must always cherish it, defend it and strengthen it,” he said.
“As we remember the extraordinary country this is, I hope we all rededicate ourselves to the essential work of our democracy, which is to unify this nation, to see each other not as adversaries but as fellow Americans.”
He continued that while other nations were formed around geography, ethnicity and religion, the United States is the only nation in history to be founded upon an idea — that all people are created equal and endowed with unalienable rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, he said, paraphrasing the Declaration of Independence.
“We haven’t always lived up to those words, but we’ve never walked away from them,” he said. “And today, and all days, we have to say clearly: We never will. We never will.”
The Bidens were accompanied by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his wife, Charlene Austin.
Music was performed by the U.S. military premier bands, singer-songwriter and veteran Army spouse Becca Rae Greene, DJ D-Nice, Grammy award-winning country musicians Brothers Osborne and three-time Grammy award-winning musician Ne-Yo, who headlined the event.
“It’s amazing what a difference music makes,” Biden told the crowd. “No, no, I really mean it. Think about how music can change moods. Music can make us feel better.”
What followed was a fireworks display that illuminated the Washington, D.C., sky starting at about 9 p.m., with thousands sitting upon blankets on the South Lawn where drinks, popcorn and beer were served and the Bidens looking on from the balcony of the South Portico.