Watch Joe Biden’s Heartfelt 2012 Speech About Death and Grief

A video of a 2012 Joe Biden speech circulated Monday as the vice president privately grieved the loss of his eldest son, Beau.

In his heartfelt and moving speech to the families of fallen soldiers, Biden discusses his own grief over the death of his daughter and wife in a 1972 car accident shortly after he had won his first race for the Senate.

Read more: Beau Biden, Son of U.S. Vice President, Dies at 46

Biden talks about his two sons, Beau and Hunt, nearly dying in the accident as well, and tells the families in the audience that the tragedy brought his family closer. “You know what you’re going to find out? Your relationship with your son and daughter, which was already close, is going to be like a bond of steel that runs through your chest and theirs and wraps you together,” Biden said.

Beau, Biden’s son, died Saturday night after a long battle with brain cancer.