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Fort Campbell, KY – President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden flew into the Campbell Army Airfield yesterday on Air Force 1 and Air Force 2 to meet with and recognize the soldiers of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment āNight Stalkersā, and members of Seal Team 6 who were sent into Pakistan to take out Osama Bin Laden, five days ago.
The President and Vice President also took the opportunity to meet with and personally thank 2,300 soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division that have recently returned home from a year long deployment in Afghanistan.
“Today, here at Fort Campbell, I had the privilege of meeting the extraordinary Special Ops folks who honored that promise. It was a chance for me to say ā- on behalf of all Americans and people around the world ā- ‘Job well done, Job well done!'”, Obama said. “What I really wanted to do was come down and shake some hands.Ā I came here for a simple reason ā- to say thank you on behalf of America. This has been an historic week in the life of our nation.Ā Thanks to the incredible skill and courage of countless individuals -ā intelligence, military ā- over many years, the terrorist leader who struck our nation on 9/11 will never threaten America again…
…Sending you — more of you — into harmās way is the toughest decision that Iāve made as Commander-in-Chief. I donāt make it lightly.” Obama said. “Every time I visit Walter Reed, every time I visit Bethesda, Iām reminded of the wages of war. But I made that decision because I know that this mission was vital to the security of the nation that we all love. And I know it hasnāt been easy for you and it hasnāt, certainly, been easy for your families. Since 9/11, no base has deployed more often, and few bases have sacrificed more than you…”
He then took a moment to remember the Fort Campbell soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their nation, “..And most of all, we see the price of this war in the 125 soldiers from Fort Campbell whoāve made the ultimate sacrifice during this deployment to Afghanistan. And every memorial ceremony ā- every āEagle Remembranceā ā- is a solemn reminder of the heavy burdens of war, but also the values of loyalty and duty and honor that have defined your lives…”
The President then recognized the toll that these types of deployments take on the soldiers. “…in some cases, some good people, good soldiers whoāve taken their own lives…So weāre going to keep saying to anybody who is hurting out there, donāt give up. Youāre not alone. Your country needs you. Weāre here for you to keep you strong.”
He then signaled that the mission in Afghanistan may be winding down for the 101st Airborne Division, “…In the coming months, weāll start transferring responsibility for security to Afghan forces. Starting this summer, weāll begin reducing American forces…”
The Presidential visit to Fort Campbell followed a trip on Thursday to New York City to participate in a wreath laying ceremony at Ground Zero and to meet with First Responders.
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Joe Biden Remarks
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Hey, itās good to be back with you all. Iāll tell you what. I want to thank General Colt for accompanying me up here. I get the honor of introducing the General.
I was back here on February 11th, to welcome home members of the 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team in Afghanistan — 155 of you got off that plane in the middle of the night, and the only thing that was more exciting than seeing you getting off is watching your families watch you all get off. So itās an honor to be back here so soon.
I know many of you have just gotten home in the past few weeks — so welcome home. And I know from experience that your families want more than anything to spend time with you. And so, every time I show up at a welcome home ceremony, Iām always worried about getting in the way. Because I remember when my son came back home from Iraq after a year, there were all these ceremonies. And I kept saying, hell, man, stop, I want to see my kid. (Laughter.)
So, anyway, I get it. So let me just say how much gratitude the President and I have, and all Americans do, for you all. You guys have been in the fight from the beginning. And the risk youāve taken, the incredible sacrifices youāve made, the comrades youāve lost, the losses youāve personally endured — youāve been in some of the most inhospitable terrain in the world.
Iāve been there a number of times, back up those damn mountains. Iād get a helicopter to go down 9,800 feet, and all I got on is a vest — a bulletproof vest and a helmet and Iām out of breath climbing up about 40 clicks — 40 feet. And you guys are up there, 60 to 80-pound packs running around. God, youāre amazing. You just are amazing. Iām in awe of the job you do, in awe of the job you do. (Applause.)
As I said back in February, I want to also thank your families. They made sacrifices as well, those intangible sacrifices — those missed births and those missed birthdays, those missed graduations, those missed — an occasional funeral. Perhaps more than anything else, just being missed, just not having you home.
The famous poet — there was a famous poet I like to quote, John Milton, who said, āThey also serve who only stand and wait.ā Your families serve as well. And the rest of America owes your families a debt of gratitude as well. (Applause.) And so, to all the families that are listening, I want to say their service is as real as yours and itās as appreciated.
To the soldiers here, you are the most capable warriors. Let me say this without any fear of contradiction, youāre the most capable warriors in the history of the world. There has never, never, never, never been a fighting force as capable as you are.
Itās my job today and my honor to talk a little bit about the man that I get to work with every day. Weāve just got to spend time with the assaulters who got bin Laden. (Applause.)
By the way, I shouldnāt say this, but Iām going to tell you anyway — the President is going to be mad Iām taking so long — (laughter) — but today was āGrandfatherās Day,ā so I went by earlier this morning before I came out here to my granddaughterās little spring play. And after itās all over she said, āPop, come back to my classroom with me.ā I said, āI canāt, honey.ā She said, āAre you going someplace on Air Force Two?ā I said, āYeah, I am, babe.ā She said, āWhere are you going?ā I said, going to — true story — I said, āIām going to Fort Campbell.ā I said, āWeāre going to see the guys out there who got Osama bin Laden.ā Absolutely true story. She said, āPop!ā and then she grabbed a little friend of hers and she said, āMy Pop is going out to see the whales.ā (Laughter.) Not the SEALs, the whales (Laughter.) Because if theyāre that good they got to be big, man. They got to be big. (Laughter.) Well, you guys are the gorillas, Iāll tell you.
I want to tell you, look, Iāve watched — Iāve been around a while with eight Presidents, so Iāve watched Presidents make some difficult decisions. Theyāve all had to make difficult decisions. But sitting in every meeting getting ready and planning for this mission and assault, for the mission to get bin Laden, I saw something extraordinary. I saw a President who was told the odds — told the odds werenāt but much more than 50/50 that heād be there and we could do this, but they were considerably less than 100 percent.
And I, along with the all the rest of his national security team and Secretary of Defense, stayed — everyone else, we sat around there and he asked our advice and we gave him our advice, and we told him told him a little this and that. And finally, he just looked at all of us and said, I got faith in the — I got faith in these guys.
He walked off on his own without anybody giving him any guarantees at all and he decided — because he believed in not only the SEALs, but believes in all of you. He has absolute total faith in all of you. And he made that determination, and it was an amazing thing to watch. But it was because he had the absolute confidence that you were there.
And so he decided, when he got into office, because of the fight you all were in from the beginning, that the number one priority was to get Osama bin Laden. And he knew the risks, he knew there were significant risks, and more importantly, special operations risks to the people who were risking their lives getting there. But he didnāt hesitate, nor did your guys.
Bob Gates said something interesting. Iāve known Bob for a long time. He said, it was one of the gutsiest decisions Iāve ever seen made and one of the gutsiest raids. This is going to go down in history, what happened. This is going to go down in history.
And here to introduce your Commander-in-Chief, the guy that Iām proud to serve with, is one of the countryās leading warriors himself, Deputy Commanding General of the 101st Airborne Division, General Jeffrey Colt. Ladies and gentlemen, General Colt. (Applause.)
Vice President Biden had recently visited with some of the returning soldiers at Fort Campbell after a visit with the Fort Campbell High School Football team.
General Jeffery N. Colt Remarks
GENERAL COLT: Thank you, sir.
I can only try to tell you today just how proud of you that this Division and this local community are. But more importantly, today, youāre going to get to hear from the Commander-in-Chief just how appreciative he is of all of your service and your sacrifices.
Please join me in this great privilege of welcoming the President of the United States, Barack Obama. (Applause.)
President Barack Obama Remarks
Hello, Fort Campbell! (Applause.) 101st Airborne DivisionāAir Assault, hello! (Applause.)
General Colt, thank you for that great introduction — it was great because it was brief. (Laughter.) More importantly, thank you for the extraordinary leadership that youāve shown here at one of the largest Army bases in America. (Applause.)
And let me just say, I make a lot of decisions; one of the earliest and best decisions I made was choosing one of the finest Vice Presidents in our history — Joe Biden, right here. (Applause.)
Chaplain Miller, thank you for the beautiful invocation.
I want to thank General Colt for welcoming me here today, along with your great Command Sergeant Major, Wayne St. Louis. (Applause.) The Quartet and 101st Division Band. (Applause.) All these troopers behind me ā- you look great. (Applause.) You noticed they kind of hesitated. (Laughter.)
We got a lot of folks in the house. Weāve got military police and medical personnel. Weāve got the Green Berets of the 5th Special Forces Group. I think weāve got a few Air Force here. Ohh — (laughter.) Well, we thought we did. There they go — okay. Come on. (Applause.) And, of course, the legendary Screaming Eagles. (Applause.) And although theyāre not in the audience, I want to acknowledge the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment ā- the Night Stalkers -ā for their extraordinary service. (Applause.)
Now, Iāve got to say, some of you are starting to look a little familiar — because last December, when we were at Bagram, I was out there to thank you for your service, especially during the holidays. And we had a great rally, a big crowd — it seemed like everybody was there from the 101st.
And since then, I know weāve had quite a few homecomings. The Rakkasans. (Applause.) Destiny. (Applause.) Strike. (Applause.) Bastogne. (Applause.) And some of the Division Headquarters ā- the Gladiators. (Applause.) On behalf of a grateful nation ā- welcome home. (Applause.)
Of course, our thoughts and prayers are with General Campbell, Command Sergeant Major Schroeder, and all of the Screaming Eagles and troops that are still risking their lives in theater. And Iām so pleased that Ann Campbell and Marla Schroeder, and some of the inspiring military spouses are here. Where are they at? Right over there. (Applause.) We are grateful to you. God bless you. There they are. Thank you so much. (Applause.) This happens to be Military Spouse Appreciation Day. (Applause.) And we honor your service as well.
Now, I didnāt come here to make a really long speech. I know you’re hearing that. (Laughter.) Itās like, yeah, itās hot! (Laughter.) What I really wanted to do was come down and shake some hands. I came here for a simple reason ā- to say thank you on behalf of America. This has been an historic week in the life of our nation. (Applause.) Thanks to the incredible skill and courage of countless individuals -ā intelligence, military ā- over many years, the terrorist leader who struck our nation on 9/11 will never threaten America again. (Applause.)
Yesterday, I traveled to New York City, and, along with some of our 9/11 families, laid a wreath at Ground Zero in memory of their loved ones. I met with the first responders ā- the firefighters, the police officers, the Port Authority officers ā- who lost so many of their own when they rushed into those burning towers. I promised that our nation will never forget those we lost that dark September day.
And today, here at Fort Campbell, I had the privilege of meeting the extraordinary Special Ops folks who honored that promise. It was a chance for me to say ā- on behalf of all Americans and people around the world ā- āJob well done.ā Job well done. (Applause.)
Theyāre Americaās āquiet professionalsā — because success demands secrecy. But I will say this. Like all of you, they could have chosen a life of ease. But like you, they volunteered. They chose to serve in a time of war, knowing they could be sent into harmās way. They trained for years. Theyāre battle-hardened. They practiced tirelessly for this mission. And when I gave the order, they were ready.
Now, in recent days, the whole world has learned just how ready they were. These Americans deserve credit for one of the greatest intelligence military operations in our nationās history. But so does every person who wears Americaās uniform, the finest military the world has ever known. (Applause.) And that includes all of you men and women of 101st. (Applause.)
You have been on the frontlines of this fight for nearly 10 years. You were there in those early days, driving the Taliban from power, pushing al Qaeda out of its safe havens. Over time, as the insurgency grew, you went back for, in some cases, a second time, a third time, a fourth time.
When the decision was made to go into Iraq, you were there, too, making the longest air assault in history, defeating a vicious insurgency, ultimately giving Iraqis the chance to secure their democracy. And youāve been at the forefront of our new strategy in Afghanistan.
Sending you — more of you — into harmās way is the toughest decision that Iāve made as Commander-in-Chief. I donāt make it lightly. Every time I visit Walter Reed, every time I visit Bethesda, Iām reminded of the wages of war. But I made that decision because I know that this mission was vital to the security of the nation that we all love.
And I know it hasnāt been easy for you and it hasnāt, certainly, been easy for your families. Since 9/11, no base has deployed more often, and few bases have sacrificed more than you. We see it in our heroic wounded warriors, fighting every day to recover, and who deserve the absolute best care in the world. (Applause.) We see it in the mental and emotional toll thatās been taken — in some cases, some good people, good soldiers whoāve taken their own lives. So weāre going to keep saying to anybody who is hurting out there, donāt give up. Youāre not alone. Your country needs you. Weāre here for you to keep you strong.
And most of all, we see the price of this war in the 125 soldiers from Fort Campbell whoāve made the ultimate sacrifice during this deployment to Afghanistan. And every memorial ceremony ā- every āEagle Remembranceā ā- is a solemn reminder of the heavy burdens of war, but also the values of loyalty and duty and honor that have defined your lives.
So hereās what each of you must know. Because of your service, because of your sacrifices, weāre making progress in Afghanistan. In some of the toughest parts of the country, General Campbell and the 101st are taking insurgents and their leaders off the battlefield and helping Afghans reclaim their communities.
Across Afghanistan, weāve broken the Talibanās momentum. In key regions, weāve seized the momentum, pushing them out of their strongholds. Weāre building the capacity of Afghans, partnering with communities and police and security forces, which are growing stronger.
And most of all, weāre making progress in our major goal, our central goal in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and that is disrupting and dismantling — and we are going to ultimately defeat al Qaeda. (Applause.) We have cut off their head and we will ultimately defeat them. (Applause.)
Even before this weekās operation, weāve put al Qaedaās leadership under more pressure than at any time since 9/11, on both sides of the border. So the bottom line is this: Our strategy is working, and thereās no greater evidence of that than justice finally being delivered to Osama bin Laden. (Applause.)
But I donāt want to fool you. This continues to be a very tough fight. You know that. But because of this progress, weāre moving into a new phase. In the coming months, weāll start transferring responsibility for security to Afghan forces. Starting this summer, weāll begin reducing American forces. As we transition, weāll build a long-term partnership with the Afghan people, so that al Qaeda can never again threaten America from that country.
And, as your Commander-in-Chief, Iām confident that weāre going to succeed in this mission. The reason Iām confident is because in you I see the strength of Americaās military — (applause) — and because in recent days weāve all seen the resilience of the American spirit.
Now, this week I received a letter from a girl in New Jersey named Payton Wall. She wrote to me on Monday after the news that bin Laden had been killed, and she explained how she still remembers that September morning almost 10 years ago. She was only four years old. Her father, Glen, was trapped inside the World Trade Center. And so, in those final, frantic moments, knowing he might not make it, he called home. And Payton remembers watching her mom sobbing as she spoke to her husband and then passed the phone to Payton. And in words that were hard to hear but which sheās never forgotten, he said to her, āI love you Payton, and I will always be watching over you.ā
So yesterday, Payton, her mom, and her sister, Avery, joined me at Ground Zero. And now Payton is 14. These past 10 years have been tough for her. In her letter, she said, āEver since my father died, I lost a part of me that can never be replaced.ā And she describes her childhood as a ālittle girl struggling to shine through all the darkness in her life.ā
But every year, more and more, Payton is shining through. Sheās playing a lot of sports, including lacrosse and track, just like her dad. Sheās doing well in school. Sheās mentoring younger students. Sheās looking ahead to high school in the fall. And so, yesterday she was with us ā- a strong, confident young woman -ā honoring her fatherās memory, even as she set her sights on the future.
And for her and for all of us, this week has been a reminder of what weāre about as a people. Itās easy to forget sometimes, especially in times of hardship, times of uncertainty. Weāre coming out of the worst recession since the Great Depression; havenāt fully recovered from that. Weāve made enormous sacrifices in two wars. But the essence of America — the values that have defined us for more than 200 years — they donāt just endure; they are stronger than ever.
Weāre still the America that does the hard things, that does the great things. Weāre the nation that always dared to dream. Weāre the nation thatās willing to take risks — revolutionaries breaking free from an empire; pioneers heading West to settle new frontiers; innovators building railways and laying the highways and putting a man on the surface of the moon.
We are the nation — and youāre the Division — that parachuted behind enemy lines on D-Day, freeing a continent, liberating concentration camps. Weāre the nation that, all those years ago, sent your Division to a high school in Arkansas so that nine black students could get an education. That was you. Because we believed that all men are created equal; that everyone deserves a chance to realize their God-given potential.
Weāre the nation that has faced tough times before — tougher times than these. But when our Union frayed, when the Depression came, when our harbor was bombed, when our country was attacked on that September day, when disaster strikes like that tornado that just ripped through this region, we do not falter. We donāt turn back. We pick ourselves up and we get on with the hard task of keeping our country strong and safe.
See, thereās nothing we canāt do together, 101st, when we remember who we are, at that is the United States of America. (Applause.) When we remember that, no problem is too hard and no challenge is too great.
And that is why I am so confident that, with your brave service, Americaās greatest days are still to come. (Applause.)
God bless you. God bless the 101st. And God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)