President Joe Biden and his family marked a somber anniversary on Dec. 18 when they visited the graves of his first wife and baby daughter on the 50th anniversary of their deaths in a car crash.
Biden was joined by first lady Jill Biden, their daughter, Ashley, and other family members for his annual visit to the gravesites of Neilia Biden and their 13-month-old daughter, Naomi. The mother and daughter died in 1972 when a tractor-trailer struck their car while Neilia was taking their children to pick out a Christmas tree.
The Bidens visited their graves on the grounds of Saint Joseph on the Brandywine Roman Catholic Church in Wilmington, Delaware, where they also attended Mass with family.
The fatal crash came a month after Biden had been elected to the U.S. Senate, so he was in Washington, D.C., setting up his office at the time. His two sons, Hunter and Beau, were also seriously injured in the crash.
Hunter and the president's grandchildren were among those who attended Mass on Dec. 18 and placed wreaths on the gravestones of Neilia and Naomi, according to The Associated Press. Beau died from brain cancer in 2015 at 46 and is buried in the same cemetery.
The president and first lady have marked the deaths of his first wife and daughter every year by visiting the gravesite and attending Mass. Their visit in 2020 was particularly poignant as it came only a month before Biden was inaugurated as the nation's 46th president. He also visited their graves in November 2020 on the morning of Election Day.