Even on such a somber day, Vice President Joe Biden finds ways to brighten our spirits. In a visit to a fire station in Shanksville, Pa., where he was remembering the victims of the September 11 terror attacks, the avuncular vice president lit it up with another classic quote. It wasn’t exactly a gaffe, but it wasn’t sanitized for a G-rated audience.

Biden, hopping out of his limousine as it pulled up the fire department, greeted Deputy Fire Chief Brad Shober, according to the pool report. The vice president met Shober last year when the Shanksville Fire Department visited Biden’s residence at the Naval Observatory, and the reunion today prompted Biden to schedule a return trip to Washington for the firefighters.

“He’s going to call you, no bullshit,” Biden, pointing at one of his aides, told Shober. Then he realized the gaggle of reporters standing a few feet away and cleaned it up a bit.

“I didn’t know you guys were here,” Biden said. “This is no malarkey. You come to the White House. I’ll buy you a beer.”

To mark the 11th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks, Biden led a White House delegation to Shanksville, where United flight 93 crash landed after a group of passenger attempted to fight off their hijackers.

Along with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Biden joined in the remembrance of the the 33 passengers and seven crew members who perished in a heroic attempt to prevent the Boeing 757 from reaching al Qaeda’s intended target that day.

“Today we stand on this hallowed ground, a place made sacred by the heroism and sacrifice of the passengers and the crew of Flight 93,” Biden said at the Flight 93 National Memorial, where survivors of the passengers and crew gathered to remember their loved ones.

Later, at the fire department, Biden made his way to the grill for a quick lunch. “I want a hot dog,” he said. He proceeded to serve himself a hamburger, topped with a slice of American cheese.

Apparently, Biden was noshing all morning. When a reporter asked what Jill Biden would think of her husband’s travel diet, the vice president predicted she’d be equally blunt: “She’s going to say, ‘Joe, what the hell are you doing?’ I just ate a peanut butter sandwich between here and there.”