Beau Biden died of brain cancer after serving in Iraq

President Joe Biden’s latest feedback about his son Beau’s dying are drawing criticism from some folks on-line.

“I say this as a father of a person who received the Bronze Star, the Conspicuous Service Medal, and misplaced his life in Iraq. Think about the braveness, the daring, and the real sacrifice — real sacrifice all of them made,” Biden stated 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 mind most cancers in 2015, practically six years after he returned from his navy service within the nation. 

Biden has linked the burn pits that Beau was uncovered to throughout his time in Iraq to his mind most cancers analysis. 

Then-Vice President Joe Biden introduced his son Beau’s dying from mind most cancers on Might 30, 2015. 

“It’s with damaged hearts that Hallie, Hunter, Ashley, Jill and I announce the passing of our husband, brother and son, Beau, after he battled mind most cancers with the identical integrity, braveness and energy he demonstrated day by day of his life. All the Biden household is saddened past phrases,” Biden’s assertion on Beau’s dying learn.

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

Beau’s unit was activated and deployed to Iraq in October 2008, and he returned to the U.S. about one 12 months later. He was awarded a Bronze Star for his service within the nation whereas additionally persevering with his work as Delaware’s Lawyer Basic, the Division of Veterans Affairs (VA) stated.

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

In a 2018 interview with PBS Information 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 could have contributed to his dying from mind most cancers. 

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

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

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Throughout that 2018 interview with PBS Information Hour, Biden stated he believes toxins present in smoke from the navy burn pits “play a major position” in inflicting veterans’ most cancers.  

“Science has acknowledged there are specific carcinogens when individuals are uncovered to them,” he stated. “Relying on the portions and the quantity within the water and the air, [they] can have a carcinogenic affect on the physique.” 

In March 2022, Biden spoke in Fort Price, 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 most cancers after serving in Iraq with the Military Nationwide Guard. 

“Stationed on the similar bases and at across the similar actual time as my son Main Beau Biden, United States Military,” Biden stated. “In Baghdad, Sergeant Robinson was stationed yards from burn pits the scale of soccer fields.”

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

“From Vietnam veterans affected by Agent Orange to the three.5 million post-9/11 veterans uncovered to burn pits throughout their deployments, our nation’s veterans and their households will now not should worry being turned away from the VA for diseases linked to poisonous publicity,” Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), who helped to introduce the laws, stated. 

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

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