Biden pays visit to Oahu, speaks to troops

Vice President Joe Biden stopped in Hawaii Saturday afternoon and thanked hundreds of troops for their service.

Biden was on his way back from India and Singapore — two key nations in America’s military and economic involvement in Asia and the Pacific.

He told more than 500 military members and their families from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard that they are "equal to any Americans gone before you."

Biden said he had seen them in action in Baghdad, Basra, Fallujah and Ramadi in Iraq, and Kabul, Kandahar and at 8,000 feet above Kunar province in Afghanistan.

"You and your families are part of an unbroken chain of patriots that have stood guard over the Pacific since that day of infamy in 1941," Biden said in a reference to the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Biden said America’s strength in the Pacific has never been greater, and he talked about a "Pacific alliance we’re looking for going from Chile to Indonesia."

The Pacific Basin "is where the future lies," he added.

"We are, and will remain, a resident Pacific power," Biden said.

Because of the stability provided by the United States military in the Pacific, other countries, including China, India, Indonesia and Singapore, have been able to grow, the vice president said.

Biden and his wife, Jill, spoke to the military families at Pearl Harbor at 1:45 p.m. after Air Force Two touched down at Honolulu Airport at 12:52 p.m.

A Biden aide said the vice president spent four days in India and two in Singapore. At the Bombay Stock Exchange, Biden said that in the past 13 years, the United States and India had increased bilateral trade fivefold, reaching nearly $100 billion.

At Changi Naval Base in Singapore, Biden spoke to sailors aboard the USS Freedom, the first of four new Littoral Combat Ships expected to be deployed rotationally to the country.

Biden appeared onstage at Ward Field in navy slacks, a lighter blue-and-white striped shirt, a navy cap and sunglasses. His wife wore a red-orange dress and a flower lei.

Biden mentioned the military and political service of former Hawaii U.S. Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka. Inouye died at age 88 in December after 50 years in the Senate.

Jill Biden thanked the USO for putting on the barbecue at which she and her husband spoke.

"The USO is such a great organization," she said. "I’ve worked with them many times, and they do really wonderful things."

Bounce houses were set up for kids, and the military families ate hamburgers, hot dogs and chips.

Jill Biden also spoke about the program "Joining Forces," dedicated to bringing Americans together to recognize, honor and take action to support veterans and military families, an effort she created with first lady Michelle Obama.

While in Singapore, a female sailor told Jill Biden she didn’t have anyone to take care of her young daughter when she went out on a ship.

The vice president’s wife asked the Hawaii families for input and said, "So it’s those kinds of things that I can take back and Michelle and I would be happy to work on them for you."

Tara Molle, a 3rd class petty officer in the Coast Guard, spent her 30th birthday Saturday sitting on a Coast Guard blanket front and center by the stage where the Bidens spoke.

"I’ve been in the Coast Guard for about 10 years. Very proud to be (in the Coast Guard)," Molle said. "How many times do we get to meet the vice president or president? It’s a neat milestone in my career to have something like this happen."

Navy Lt. Cmdr. Bryce Benson, his wife, Alexandra, and their three kids, ages 3, 8 and 9, got to say hello to the vice president, who chatted and took photos with families for more than a half-hour in the hot Hawaii sun.

"It’s a great experience — the fact that he came here to talk to all the troops," Bryce Benson said.

Fletcher Benson, 3, was feeling the heat, and Biden told him, "It’s almost over, you can go home soon," his father said.

Biden also had some advice for Benson’s two daughters.

"He said no serious dates until you are 30, which I think is some of the best advice he ever gave," Bryce Benson said.

Biden is expected to leave Hawaii today for Washington, D.C.