Joe Biden has been criticized again for saying his late son Beau “lost his life in Iraq” – a reference to the president’s long-held belief that poison ivy burns led to the death of the younger Biden from brain cancer at the age of 46.
The president made his latest remarks to US troops stationed in Japan during his trip to the country, after making similar remarks at least twice last year.
“My son is a major in the US Army. He was lost in Iraq,” Mr Biden said during an informal visit to troops at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni on Thursday in a video obtained by The New York Post.
US President Joe Biden (L) greets US soldiers arriving to attend the G7 Summit at the US Marine Corps base in Iwakuni on May 18, 2023.
(AFP via Getty Images)
Right-wing media outlets have tried to use Mr Biden’s comments on Beau’s death as a sign that the 80-year-old Democrat has memory issues ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Biden’s son died of brain cancer in 2015 at Walter Reed military hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.
Last October Mr Biden made similar comments while speaking near Vail, Colorado, as he designated Camp Hail as a national monument.
The area, which covers 436 square miles, was the training ground of the 10th Mountain Division during World War II.
Biden spoke of the bravery of the division as they fought in Italy, before saying he lost his son in Iraq.
US President Joe Biden (L) greets US soldiers arriving to attend the G7 Summit at the US Marine Corps base in Iwakuni on May 18, 2023
(AFP via Getty Images)
“Just think, I mean it sincerely, I say this as a father of a man who won the Bronze Star, the distinguished service medal, and lost his life in Iraq. Think of the courage, the daring, and the true sacrifice they made,” said the president.
A clip of the moment shared by the conservative Washington Examiner on Twitter viewed more than a million times.
Beau Biden served in Iraq between 2008 and 2009 as a member of the Delaware Army National Guard. He was the Delaware Attorney General between 2007 and 2015.
Just a few months after leaving office, he died at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland on 30 May 2015.
Posthumously, he was awarded the Delaware Conspicuous Service Cross for “heroism, meritorious service and outstanding achievement”.
Then US vice president Joe Biden (R) spoke to his son, US Army Capt. Beau Biden (L) at Camp Victory outside Baghdad on July 4, 2009.
(AFP via Getty Images)
“Beau Biden died of brain cancer in 2015, more than five years after he returned from a year of service in Iraq. Joe Biden blamed the cancer on Beau Biden’s proximity to burning pits in Iraq, though sometimes admits he’s not sure,” CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale Tweet.
In 2016, Vice President Biden previously said his son’s cancer may have been caused by toxic burn holes he was exposed to during his service in the Middle East.
The New York Times Mr Biden reportedly said he was “shocked” when he read a chapter about his son’s death in the book The Burn Pits: The Poisoning of America’s Soldiers by Joseph Hickman.
“Guys, I’m going to be the biggest pain in your neck as long as I live, until we find out about these burns,” he said in a conference room at the congressional complex.
Burn pits are used to dispose of waste, such as plastics, rubber, and batteries, in Afghanistan and Iraq. The smoke from the pits can be poisonous, Newsweek noticed.
The Department of Defense has stated that nearly 3.5 million service members may have been exposed to toxins at harmful levels because of the practice.
“I’ve always believed that we have a sacred obligation to provide for those we send to war, and to take care of them and their families when they come home,” Mr Biden said during his State of the Union address earlier this year. . “And they came home, many of the best and most trained fighters in the world, never equal. Headache. Numbness. Dizziness. A cancer that will put them in a flag-draped coffin. “
While Mr Biden said he could not be absolutely sure his son’s cancer was caused by the burns, he said his administration would “find out everything we can”.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) said on its website that it “understands that many Veterans are increasingly concerned about exposure to smoke and fumes generated by open burn pits”.
“In Iraq, Afghanistan, and other areas of the Southwest Asia theater of military operations, open-air combustion of garbage and other waste in burn pits is a common practice. The Department of Defense is now closing most of burn pits and plans to close the rest,” the agency added.
“Researchers, including VA experts, are actively studying airborne hazards such as burns and other environmental exposures in the military. Ongoing research will help us better understand the potential long-term impact on health and provide you with better care and service,” the site says.
