Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden said his stop at the Iowa Veterans Home Thursday was more about thanking vets than campaigning.
"The sacrifice you make and your families make is really what this county is all about," he said.
Biden, son of Vice President Joe Biden, lauded President Obama's efforts as commander in chief saying the president understands when and where deploying troops is appropriate.
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T-R PHOTO BY DAVID ALEXANDER
Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden shakes hands with Milan B. Hood, an 80-year-old Korean conflict veteran, Thursday afternoon at the Iowa Veterans Home. Biden spoke to a crowd of about 50 about President Obama’s effort to address issues veterans like Hood care about.
Obama's efforts, he said to a crowd of about 50, helped end the war in Iraq in a responsible way and made a significant dent in the war on terror.
"He refocused our effort overseas to get al-Qaida," he said.
He pointed to the president's effort to expand the GI Bill and veterans benefits as well provide businesses tax credits for hiring veterans as evidence that Obama understands, what he called, the sacred obligation of being commander in chief.
Shawn McCoy, Iowa communications director for Romney, however, said Obama's plan to cut military spending will cost Iowa 5,000 jobs.
"It's disappointing that the Obama campaign would come to Iowa asking for the support of veterans despite President Obama's broken promises to our men and women in uniform," McCoy said in an email.
Biden, a major in the Delaware National Guard and an Iraq War vet, spoke about how being a service member affects the family, calling veterans one of America's greatest treasures.
"Those of us who signed up [for military service], we chose to do so. Our families didn't choose," he said. "We are not just sending service members to war. We are sending the entire family to war ... we do not defend this nation without the men and women, the sons and daughters, the moms and dads who support this effort."
But Romney's campaign claims Obama's military budget cut holds national security funding hostage for political posturing, claiming the president's plan would "force military families and veterans to pay more for healthcare even as President Obama pays off his political cronies at failed companies like Solyndra."
The company, a manufacturer of solar panels, went bankrupt despite millions of dollars in government tax breaks given to it by the Obama administration.
Milan B. Hood, a Korean conflict veteran, said Biden's message about family values is one veterans should take to heart.
"He's a good family man," he said of Biden.