Beau Biden died of brain cancer after serving in Iraq

President Joe Biden’s current feedback about his son Beau’s loss of life are drawing criticism from some folks on-line.

“I say this as a father of a man who won the Bronze Star, the Conspicuous Service Medal, and lost his life in Iraq. Imagine the courage, the daring, and the genuine sacrifice — genuine sacrifice they all made,” Biden said on Oct. 12 throughout a go to to Camp Hale close to Vail, Colorado.

Some people on social media claimed Biden’s assertion was inaccurate since his son died years after his navy service, not whereas serving in Iraq. VERIFY reader Ian H. additionally requested the group to fact-check Biden’s assertion. 

Did President Biden’s son Beau die whereas serving in Iraq?

No, President Biden’s son Beau didn’t die whereas serving in Iraq. He died of brain cancer in 2015, almost six years after he returned from his navy service in the nation. 

Biden has linked the burn pits that Beau was uncovered to throughout his time in Iraq to his brain cancer analysis. 

Then-Vice President Joe Biden introduced his son Beau’s loss of life from brain cancer on May 30, 2015. 

“It is with broken hearts that Hallie, Hunter, Ashley, Jill and I announce the passing of our husband, brother and son, Beau, after he battled brain cancer with the same integrity, courage and strength he demonstrated every day of his life. The entire Biden family is saddened beyond words,” Biden’s statement on Beau’s death learn.

The assertion additionally outlined Beau’s service in Iraq as a serious in the Delaware National Guard.

Beau’s unit was activated and deployed to Iraq in October 2008, and he returned to the U.S. about one yr later. He was awarded a Bronze Star for his service in the nation whereas additionally persevering with his work as Delaware’s Attorney General, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) said.

While Biden’s son Beau didn’t die throughout his service in Iraq, and as a substitute died almost six years after he returned from the nation following a battle with brain cancer, Biden has on a number of events linked his son’s navy service to his cancer analysis.

In a 2018 interview with PBS News Hour and a more moderen speech in Texas, Biden expressed his private perception that poisonous burn pits Beau was uncovered to throughout his navy service might have contributed to his loss of life from brain cancer. 

Burn pits are areas “devoted to open-air combustion of trash,” according to the VA. They have been generally used at navy websites in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of the waste merchandise in burn pits included chemical substances, paint, medical and human waste, aluminum cans, ammunition, petroleum, plastic and Styrofoam. 

The link between cancer and people pits has not been definitively confirmed, although the VA has acknowledged that veterans’ publicity to them might have led to sure opposed well being results. 

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During that 2018 interview with PBS News Hour, Biden mentioned he believes toxins discovered in smoke from the navy burn pits “play a significant role” in inflicting veterans’ cancer.  

“Science has recognized there are certain carcinogens when people are exposed to them,” he mentioned. “Depending on the quantities and the amount in the water and the air, [they] can have a carcinogenic impact on the body.” 

In March 2022, Biden spoke in Fort Worth, Texas, about his work to assist veterans. He talked about Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson, a fight medic who died from a uncommon type of lung cancer after serving in Iraq with the Army National Guard. 

“Stationed at the same bases and at around the same exact time as my son Major Beau Biden, United States Army,” Biden mentioned. “In Baghdad, Sergeant Robinson was stationed yards from burn pits the size of football fields.”

In August 2022, Congress handed the bipartisan Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act in an effort to handle poisonous exposures which have impacted navy veterans.

“From Vietnam veterans suffering from Agent Orange to the 3.5 million post-9/11 veterans exposed to burn pits during their deployments, our nation’s veterans and their families will no longer have to fear being turned away from the VA for illnesses connected to toxic exposure,” Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), who helped to introduce the laws, said. 

The White House didn’t reply to a request for touch upon Biden’s most up-to-date assertion about Beau. 

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