While announcing the Camp Hale Great Divide as a historical landmark on Wednesday, President Joe Biden referred to his now deceased son Beau Biden, a military reservist and former attorney general of Delaware, who “gave his life in Iraq.”
The Biden family’s eldest son was a Bronze Star recipient for his service in Iraq and was a reservist in the Delaware Army National Guard before he passed away. Beau passed away in 2015 after a fight with advanced brain cancer that was thought to have been brought on by exposure to hazardous burn pits while he was serving abroad.
Biden becomes Emotional When talking about his late son Beau.
Speaking in the state of Colorado, Biden emphasized the importance of Camp Hale in preparing before World War II.
Before mentioning Beau, the president said, “American soldiers from the 10th Mtn Division climbed that 1800-foot cliff, by night, took the Germans off guard, captured crucial positions, and pushed through the Germans’ line of scrimmage at a pivotal stage in the battle. As the parent of a guy who received the distinguishing service award, the Bronze Star, and lost his life in Iraq, I say this with all sincerity. Imagine the bravery, the audacity, and the real sacrifice that they all made.”
The White House informed reporters on Thursday morning that Biden has regularly linked Beau’s death to his service in Iraq and exposure to burn pits since 2016, including numerous times this year. The president also claimed that Beau’s illness and passing were significant influences on his decision to endorse the PACT Act, a veterans’ healthcare policy that he signed into law in August.
“Many others, including Beau, had their drinks only a few hundred yards from those pits. It was odorous. You would breathe it in. Guess what, though? People who were exposed to these hazardous vapors have now returned home with headaches, numbness, dizziness, cancers,” on September 5, 2022, the president stated at a White House gathering.
In a statement made nine days later, he said, “I signed the PACT bill into statute, the most critical measure assisting veterans and their loved ones deal with harmful exposure to those fire pits, that are about the size of a football field and 8, 9, or 10 feet deep. It turns out that many of those people had cancer when they returned home with headaches and other health issues. Cancer claimed more lives than any other battle.”
