Beau Biden

He attained the rank of major in the Judge Advocate General's Corps as part of the 261st Signal Brigade in Smyrna, Delaware.

Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden III (February 3, 1969 – May 30, 2015) was an American politician, lawyer, and officer in the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps from Wilmington, Delaware.

Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden III was born in Wilmington, Delaware, on February 3, 1969.

He was the first son of Joe Biden (who would become a U.S. senator, vice president, and president), and his first wife Neilia.

On December 18, 1972, Beau's mother and infant sister Naomi were killed in an automobile accident while Christmas shopping.

Beau was almost four years old, and his brother, Hunter, was almost three years old.

Beau and Hunter were in the car when the crash took place and were critically injured but survived.

Beau sustained multiple broken bones, while Hunter sustained injuries to his skull and severe traumatic brain damage.

They spent several months in the hospital, where their father was sworn into the Senate two weeks after the accident.

According to some accounts, Beau and Hunter encouraged their father to marry again, even going so far as to ask him "when were 'we' going to get married".

In June 1977, his father married Jill Jacobs, whom Beau welcomed as a stepmother.

His half-sister, Ashley, was born in 1981.

Biden graduated from Archmere Academy, his father's high school alma mater, and the University of Pennsylvania in 1991, where he was a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity.

He was also a graduate of Syracuse University College of Law, as was his father.

After graduating from law school, he clerked for Judge Steven McAuliffe of the United States District Court of New Hampshire.

From 1995 to 2004, he worked at the United States Department of Justice in Philadelphia, first as Counsel to the Office of Policy Development and later as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Biden was in Kosovo after the 1998-1999 Kosovo War, working on behalf of the OSCE to train judges and prosecutors for the local judicial system.

Beau Biden married Hallie Olivere in 2002.

Biden joined the Delaware Army National Guard in 2003 and attended The JAG School at the University of Virginia.

They had two children: daughter Natalie Naomi (b. 2004), and son Robert Hunter II (b. 2006).

In 2004 he became a partner in the law firm of Bifferato, Gentilotti, Biden & Balick, where he worked for two years before being elected Attorney General of Delaware.

In his first bid for political office, Biden ran for attorney general of Delaware in 2006.

Biden's opponent was a veteran state prosecutor and assistant U.S. attorney, Ferris Wharton.

Major issues in the campaign included the candidates' experience and proposed efforts to address sex offenders, Internet predators, senior abuse and domestic abuse.

Biden won the election by approximately five percentage points.

After being elected, he appointed former Delaware Attorney General and International Judge Richard S. Gebelein as Chief Deputy Attorney General, and former assistant U.S. Attorney Richard G. Andrews was appointed as State Prosecutor.

He was the oldest child of President Joe Biden (who was Vice President at the time of Beau's death) and Neilia Hunter Biden, served as the 44th attorney general of Delaware from 2007 to 2015, and was a major in the Delaware Army National Guard in the Iraq War.

When Joe Biden was nominated for vice president at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Beau introduced him.

Many delegates wept at his speech, which recounted the auto accident that killed his mother and sister and the subsequent commitment his father made to his sons.

Biden's unit was activated to deploy to Iraq on October 3, 2008, and sent to Fort Bliss, Texas for pre-deployment training.

This was the day after his father participated in the 2008 presidential campaign's only vice presidential debate.

His father was on the record as saying, "I don't want him going. But I tell you what, I don't want my grandson or my granddaughters going back in 15 years, and so how we leave makes a big difference."

Biden traveled to Washington, D.C. from Iraq in January 2009 for the presidential inauguration and his father's swearing-in as vice president, then returned to Iraq.

Biden received a visit at Camp Victory from his father on July 4, 2009.

Biden returned from Iraq in September 2009 after completing his yearlong stint on active duty which included a 7-month deployment in the combat zone with the Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps.

During his deployment he announced that he would continue to actively serve as Delaware's attorney general by working in conjunction with his office's senior staff in Delaware, although a member of his unit related that Biden said he had turned over most of his attorney general work to his chief deputy in order to focus on his duties in Iraq.

Biden was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his service in Iraq.

Army Chief of Staff Raymond Odierno delivered the eulogy at Biden's funeral and presented a posthumous Legion of Merit for his service in the Delaware National Guard, stating "Beau Biden possessed the traits I have witnessed in only the greatest leaders."

He was also posthumously presented with the Delaware Conspicuous Service Cross, which is "awarded for heroism, meritorious service and outstanding achievement".

He died of glioblastoma at the age of 46 in 2015, at which time he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor of Delaware in the 2016 gubernatorial election.