CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq -- Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, met with members of the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, and other deployed servicemembers and civilians, here Saturday as part of his visit this week to Iraq.
Taking time out of his busy schedule of meeting with Iraqi government officials and U.S. military leaders, Biden made a stop at the Raider Inn Dining Facility during dinner, to chat with troops and pose for photos.
Escorted through the bustling DFAC by Col. John Norris, the 4th SBCT, 2nd Inf. Div. commander, Biden was swarmed by servicemembers and civilians eager to meet the vice president.
Expressing his appreciation for the hard work done by Soldiers, the vice president worked through the crowd, shaking hand with the troops and often pausing to take time and hear from many of the Soldiers.
Biden, who is also the father of a Soldier, said that he hopes the American people understand the amount of hard work that servicemembers have done while deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
"You go out and saddle up every day," he said during a conversation with Lt. Gen. Charles Jacoby, deputy commanding general for operations and I Corps commanding general, United States Forces-Iraq and members of the 4th SBCT, 2nd Inf. Div. command staff.
The vice president went on to say that even in the face of great adversity such as the loss of a fellow Soldier, servicemembers still "saddle back up" and head out the next day.
Norris expressed his appreciation for Biden's visit to the brigade and for his strong support of the troops.
"I thanked him for going to Fort Lewis for the (5th SBCT, 2nd Inf. Div.) ceremony," he said.
5th SBCT, 2nd Inf. Div., a sister unit of the Raider Brigade has taken heavy losses during their deployment to Afghanistan and in Nov. 2009 the vice president traveled to Fort Lewis for a ceremony memorializing seven of the brigade's Soldiers killed in a roadside bomb attack.
"It's really important to all of us that somebody of your stature recognizes those troops that have fallen," Norris told the vice president.
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