Biden Kicks off Wounded Warrior Soldier Ride

By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 28, 2010 – "Riders ready?" Vice President Joe Biden asked wounded warriors this morning before sounding the air horn that kicked off the fourth annual "White House to Light House" Wounded Warrior Soldier Ride.
Twenty-eight wounded warriors got a vice presidential sendoff at the White House south lawn today as they launched a three-day bicycle and wheelchair ride to show the world and themselves what they’re still capable of accomplishing.
Joined by his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, along with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki and National Security Advisor James L. Jones Jr., the vice president told the participants they define what America represents.
“Your losses to most Americans are incomprehensible, but what’s even more, more unfathomable to Americans, is your courage,” he said. “You have no idea, I expect, what an inspiration you are to all Americans.”
Calling the wounded warriors “the heart and the soul and the spine” of the United States, he said they set an example for others to emulate.
“You not only let us know what we should be, you’re showing us that we can be anything we want to be,” Biden said. “And for that, I thank you on behalf of my children and my grandchildren and all Americans.”
Almost 600 active-duty servicemembers, along with the wounded warriors’ families and caregivers, crowded the White House lawn to cheer on the participants as they set out on their ride. They erupted in cheers after the vice president sounded the air horn to kick off the ride, the cyclists whizzed by him, waving as they made a loop around the asphalt trail that rings the south lawn.
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https://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=58942oldId.20100429085308633