Jill Biden Welcomes Son Beau Home From Iraq and Thanks Troop Greeters

By Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers

Jill Biden stood, a relieved parent, at last night's Capitol Hill screening of the new documentary The Way We Get By as she announced that her son Beau had returned home safely from the Middle East. "Today I feel blessed because today, this afternoon, my son Beau came home to Delaware after being in Iraq for a year," she told the crowd. The Blue Star mother was asked to introduce the film, which follows the lives of three senior citizens who are "Troop Greeters." The greeters park themselves at Bangor International Airport in Maine to give hugs, handshakes, cookies, and cellphones to American soldiers as they leave for or arrive home from tours abroad. They've greeted every group, nearly 1 million soldiers on about 4,000 flights, since May 2003, according to Maine Sen. Susan Collins, also on hand at the screening.

Beau Biden's unit traveled through New Hampshire, not Maine, but Jill Biden still shared his story. "He told me, 'Mom, one of the most emotional experiences in my life occurred when the 261st landed a few days ago in New Hampshire, after 30 hours of flight. We deplaned to find 150 veterans and volunteers lined up on both sides of our path,' " she relayed. "That is what these greeters from Maine mean to our troops as they land on American soil."

Here's the trailer:

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