By Michael Martinez
(CNN) — Terrorism is losing, Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday in his eulogy for Sean Collier, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus cop who authorities say was killed by the suspected Boston Marathon bombers last week.
“We have suffered. We are grieving. But we are not bending,” Biden said. “We will not be intimidated.”
In remarks at the memorial service Wednesday, Biden also consoled Collier’s family, describing the slain officer as “a remarkable son” and “a remarkable brother.”
“No child should pre-decease their parents,” Biden said to the family. “Though every loss is different, one thing is central. I know from experience that sense of dread reliving the moment of the last nine days, almost hourly, the moment you learn the fate of your child — the sense of hollowness and being sucked into a void you can’t control.”
The vice president lost his first wife and infant daughter in a car crash in 1972.
But he said the day will come for the family when the memory of Collier will prompt a smile before any tears.
Biden also praised the hundreds of hundreds of law enforcement officers dressed in crisp blue uniforms and gathered outdoors for the memorial service, held on Briggs Field at MIT.
“On every front, terrorism as a weapon is losing,” Biden said. “It is not gaining adherents. What galls them the most is that America remains that shining city on the hill.”
The memorial service stage featured a massive American flag as a backdrop, with a photograph of Collier. Singer James Taylor performed, accompanied by the MIT Symphony Orchestra.
Collier, 27, was described last week by friends and colleagues as having an easy smile and a willingness to help others. He enjoyed policing.
The officer was buried Tuesday after a private memorial service in Stoneham, Massachusetts, CNN affiliate WHDH reported.
Authorities believe the two men suspected of detonating bombs at the marathon shot Collier to death as he sat in his squad car on the MIT campus last week.
Collier’s killing and a subsequent carjacking nearby set off the search that paralyzed Boston for almost 24 hours.
One of the suspects, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, died after a shootout with police early Friday. His younger brother, Dzhokhar, was hospitalized following his capture later that day.
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