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> http://www.ocregister.com/articles/beau-667401-delaware-father.html <http://www.ocregister.com/articles/beau-667401-delaware-father.html>
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> Beau Biden: Remembering a hero and a father
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> Two weekends ago, I traveled across the country for the funeral of a close friend from my college days at the University of Pennsylvania. He was the first of our friends to pass away, and his premature death at 46 hit us all hard. Our solace came from knowing that, in this case, our friend Beau received the recognition and honor that he deserved. The president of the United States delivered his eulogy, and the funeral service was shown live on cable to a mourning country.
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> Beau Biden was remarkable. He possessed grace and charm and was the quintessential servant leader – a servant to the core who knew at a young age that he was blessed with the character and skills that obliged him to lead. He dedicated his life to the service of others: to his beloved state of Delaware as its two-term attorney general, to his country as a member of the National Guard – and to his family as a devoted father, husband, brother and son.
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> Beau’s life-long desire was to help as many people as possible. Those of us who had the good fortune to know Beau are now obliged to tell stories about him, so that his good deeds can provide a path for others to follow.
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> I will always remember Beau as a humble man who never let his status or connections affect his outlook. In 2003, when the rest of us were building our careers and our families, Beau enlisted in the Delaware National Guard. He knew that his military service would likely take him overseas for wartime deployment. Beau could not predict, however, that he would be sent to Iraq in October 2008, just one month before the election of Barack Obama and his father, Vice President Joe Biden.
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> During one of our early post-election email exchanges, I asked Beau about his deployment in Iraq, the historic election and when he might be coming back home for a visit. He answered that he was just a regular JAG officer who was devoted to his unit, and he would not be granted leave until at least March. I was therefore surprised to see Beau standing with his family at the inaugural in January. I later learned that General Raymond Odierno, then the senior U.S. military commander in Iraq, ordered Beau to attend the inauguration.
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> To know Beau was to know a man of purpose. He was a normal, fun-loving college student, except that he didn’t drink alcohol until he turned 21. His first job out of law school was with the Department of Justice. And he always knew that he wanted to follow his father in a life of public service.
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> When he got elected at 37 as the attorney general of Delaware, many people saw this as a steppingstone to higher office. Beau did as well, but he took the job very seriously, as well as the promises he made while campaigning – notably to protect and defend the children of Delaware.
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> So when his father vacated his Senate seat after winning the vice presidency, Beau had a difficult decision to make. Should he vie to be appointed Delaware’s junior senator or finish the job to which he was elected? Beau explained to me that he really had no choice. The people of Delaware had elected him as their attorney general, and his overseas deployment had already interrupted his first term. Besides, just prior to his return from Iraq, Earl Bradley, the notorious pedophile pediatrician, was indicted by the state of Delaware, and it was Beau’s responsibility to lead the prosecution. He would not abandon his ideals just to forward his career.
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> Another ideal to which Beau devoted himself was loyalty. During his eulogy of Beau, President Obama pledged his commitment to the Biden family rule, “We’re always here for you. We always will be.” Beau understood this rule and extended his loyalty to his friends as well.
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> We took a road trip in college and drove from Philadelphia to Ontario, Canada to attend a weekend regatta. Beau drove us in his rust-colored Mustang convertible, and I was relegated to the less-than-comfortable back seat. After a couple of party days, I tried to use the return trip for some sleep-filled recovery and managed to nod off. At one of the rest stops, I awoke and pulled myself up from slumber by grabbing the back window. I snapped it off, and we drove the rest of the way home with a broken window. Ever the protector, Beau told his father that crime in West Philadelphia was on the rise and his car had gotten broken into. I guess I owe you some money, Mr. Vice President.
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> Thanks to Beau for living a heroic life that we can teach our children to emulate. We don’t all have the opportunities that Beau had, but we do get to make life decisions every day. We improve ourselves when we honor the ideals of humility, purpose and loyalty that Beau always did.
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> Eric Spitz is chairman of Freedom Communications, parent of the Register.
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Eric D. Schwerin
Rosemont Seneca Partners, LLC
1010 Wisconsin Ave., NW
Suite 705
Washington, DC 20007
(202) 333-1880
eschwerin@rosemontseneca.com <x-msg://59/eschwerin@obblaw.com>
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