Joe Biden kisses Jill goodbye before his first trip on Marine One to see wounded soldiers in Walter Reed Hospital
Just before President Joe Biden headed to Walter Reed Hospital to visit wounded soldiers, he exchanged a kiss with his wife Jill Biden. The couple pulled down their face masks to kiss.
This was Biden's first official trip out of the White House since he became president and his first ride on Marine One as commander-in-chief. The Bidens have a long history with the National Military Medical Center, which is known for treating thousands of service members, military veterans and their families. While he was Vice President, the Bidens would visit the troops often, including Christmas. The doctors at the military hospital had also treated Biden's son Beau when he was battling brain cancer. Sadly, Beau died in 2015.
"I've been at Walter Reed a lot. I spent almost six months there myself as a patient. And in addition to that, as Vice President, every single Christmas, we spent all of Christmas Day at Walter Reed. These kids are amazing," he told reporters on the South Lawn before he left. "They're real heroes."
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While at the hospital, Biden met the wounded soldiers from the Marines Corps, Army and Army National Guard. His son Beau served in Delaware's Army National Guard. He also supervised the vaccination distribution at the hospital, which took place in a converted basketball gym. There were masked attendants in white medical gowns, who were delivering vaccines to service members. He also spoke to Colonel Andrew Barr, who is the director of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and Command Master Chief Randy Swanson. He appreciated them for looking after his son.
During his first 10 days in office, Biden made a visit to the Lincoln Memorial on the evening of his swearing-in as part of his inaugural festivities. He also went to church last Sunday. Just before she said goodbye to her husband, the first lady supervised a military-related event of her own. She conversed with military children, who were a part of the Military Children Education Coalition's (MCEC) Student 2 Student peer mentoring program. The call was part of the First Lady's Joining Forces program, which was an initiative that had seen involvement from Michelle Obama.
Jill spoke to five teens who are part of the program."The Bidens are a military family," she told the kids. She let them know that she respected their resilience for dealing with the hurdles of being in school, in the midst of the crippling pandemic. "I do see your resilience and your flexibility and your strength. But I also see your vulnerability, I mean you kids are going through a lot. Don't underestimate. You know how hard it is how difficult it is to, sort of, dig deep within," she said, adding, "Please, please know that the president, my husband Joe, you know, we see you every single day, and certainly appreciate all the sacrifice that you that you all are making for this country,'" she told them.