US' Biden again attributes son Beau's death to Iraq while meeting marines in Japan

US President Joe Biden has once again come under fire for claiming that his late son Beau "lost his life in Iraq"—a statement that alludes to the president's long-held view that poisonous burn pits were to blame for the younger Biden's brain cancer death at the age of 46. After making similar remarks at least twice earlier in the year, the president made his most recent ones to US troops stationed in Japan during his visit to the nation.

“My son was a major in the US Army. We lost him in Iraq,” Biden remarked in a video during a casual visit with troops at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni that The New York Post obtained and posted. The US President's son passed away in 2015 of brain cancer at the Walter Reed Military Medical Centre in Bethesda, Maryland.

Similar remarks were made by Biden in October of last year when he declared Camp Hail a national monument and was speaking near Vail, Colorado. During the Second World War, the 436 square mile region served as the 10th Mountain Division's training ground. Before saying that he lost his son in Iraq, Biden praised the valour of the division during their battle in Italy.

Who is Beau Biden?

Beau Biden was deployed to Iraq as a Delaware Army National Guard soldier between 2008 and 2009. However, between 2007 through 2015, he served as the Attorney General of Delaware. On May 30, 2015, he passed away at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre in Bethesda, Maryland, just a few months after resigning from his position. He received the Delaware Conspicuous Service Cross after his death in recognition of his "heroism, meritorious service, and outstanding achievement".

“Just imagine, I mean it sincerely, 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 they all made,” the president said as reported by The Independent.