Dr. Biden Hears From Guard Troops, Iraqi Teachers
Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, talks with soldiers from the Texas Army National Guard on Camp Prosperity in Baghdad, July 5, 2010. Biden held a roundtable discussion with Guard members as an opportunity to hear their family concerns. DoD photo by Elaine Wilson
6 July 2010 CAMP PROSPERITY, Iraq, July 6, 2010 – Reintegration, education and support for single soldiers’ families were among the issues Texas Army National Guard soldiers raised here yesterday during a roundtable discussion with Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden.
Dr. Biden was in Iraq with her husband over the weekend to visit with troops for the Fourth of July holiday and to meet with senior Iraqi leaders. Dr. Biden met with several military units while there, but showed a personal interest in speaking to Guard members.
“I have a special place in my heart for the National Guard,” she told the group of about a dozen soldiers of the 72nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team out of Houston who had gathered in a small café here. Her son, Beau, she explained, is in the Delaware Army National Guard and was deployed to Iraq last year.
An ongoing issue she’s heard about, she said, is education. National Guard families don’t live on a base, she explained, and the schools their children attend may not be aware that their parent is deployed or how to identify deployment-related issues. Dr. Biden encouraged the Guard members, who are due to return home in August, to share their family related concerns with her, particularly regarding their separation and homecoming.
“When our son came home for [leave], and then had to go back again, his kids were affected. How could they not be?” she said. “I think I understand some of what you may be going through, but it’s nice to hear what you’re experiencing, what we can help you with, what [First Lady] Michelle [Obama] and I should be working.” Continued
Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, meets with female Iraqi teachers at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, July 5, 2010. DoD photo by Elaine Wilson
Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, visits with airmen on the flightline at Baghdad International Airport before departing Iraq, July 5, 2010. The Bidens spent their Fourth of July weekend visiting U.S. troops and senior Iraqi leaders. DoD photo by Elaine Wilson
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