Biden, Harris lead moment of silence
Following his brief speech, Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff walked out to the South Portico at the White House where candles were lit and displayed on the steps for the moment of silence.
![PHOTO: President Joe Biden, his wife Jill Biden, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff attend a moment of silence and candle lighting ceremony to commemorate 500,000 deaths from COVID-19 at the White House, Feb. 22, 2021.](https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/white-house-2-rt-er-210222_1614037265471_hpMain.jpg)
Earlier, the National Cathedral rang its bells to honor the more than 500,000 Americans who died from the coronavirus.
"I received a letter from a daughter whose father died of COVID-19 on Easter Sunday last year," Biden said before the ceremony. "She and her children, his grandchildren, enter Lent this season, a season of reflection and renewal, with heavy hearts. Unable to properly mourn, she asked me in the letter, what was our loss among so many others? Well, that's what has been so cruel."
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"So many of the rituals that help us cope, that help us honor those we loved, haven't been available to us. The final rites, with family gathered around, the proper home going, showered with stories and love, tribal leaders passing out the final traditions of sacred cultures on sacred lands," he continued. "As a nation, we cannot and we must not let this go on. That's why the day before my inauguration ... I said, 'to heal -- to heal, we must remember.' I know it's hard. I promise you, I know it's hard. I remember. But that's how you heal. You have to remember."
![PHOTO: President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff of the White House, Feb. 22, 2021.](https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/white-house-1-gty-er-210222_1614036809153_hpMain.jpg)