Joe and Jill Biden attend wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden marked their first Veterans Day in the White House by traveling to Arlington Cemetery for a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 

This year marked the centennial anniversary for monument. To mark the occasion, the public has been allowed to lay flowers around the tomb for the first time in 96 years. 

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is the final resting place for three unidentified American servicemembers, dating back to 1921. 

President Joe Biden attends a wreath laying ceremony to mark Veterans Day and the centennial anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

President Joe Biden participates in a wreath-laying ceremony at the site of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to mark Veterans Day on Thursday

First Lady Jill Biden arrives at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Thursday 

Biden does the sign of the cross in front of the wreath during Thursday’s Veterans Day ceremony

Blackhawk helicopters fly over the site of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery

First Lady Jill Biden is captured arriving at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Thursday

Biden (left) stands alongside Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough (center) and Major General Allan Pepin (right) 

The first lady, wearing a navy suit, entered the event first, with the president, standing alongside Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough and Major General Allan Pepin for a playing of the Star Spangled Banner. 

Biden approached the wreath alone, making the sign of the cross across his chest. 

Taps then played. 

Biden attended the ceremony alongside Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  

Biden is giving remarks at the Memorial Amphitheater. 

Earlier, Biden held a private reception at the White House for veterans and members of the military community. 

Biden is the first president since President Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s to have had a child who served in an active conflict. 

The late Beau Biden was a member of the Delaware Army National Guard and was deplayed to Iraq in 2008 as an Army lawyer.  

General Mark Milley (center), the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, salutes as service members pass him during a full honors procession honoring the centennial anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Troops evoked the original 1921 funderal procession of a World War I unknown soldier as part of the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

This year marks the centennial anniversary for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery 

Troops march during a full honors procession commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Veterans Day on Thursday 

Beau Biden died of brain cancer in 2015. 

The president has suggested that burn pits in Iraq could have played a role in his son developing the fatal disease.  

It’s been historically rare for a president’s child to see battle, but Quentin Roosevelt, the son of President Teddy Roosevelt, was killed in action during World War I in 1918, nearly a decade after the president left office.   

A year ago, Biden visited the Korean War Memorial in Philadelphia on Veterans Day as president-elect of the United States. He ran his presidential transition out of nearby Wilmington, Delaware.  

Former President Donald Trump went to Arlington, taking a break from challenging the election result.  

Pallbearers carry the coffin of the ‘Unknown Soldier’ of World War I down the steps of the Capitol on November 11, 1921

100 years ago on Nov. 11, 1921, the Unknown Soldier was placed on this horse-drawn caisson and carried in a procession through Washington, D.C.