Bam marking Afghan war end
PRESIDENT OBAMA will mark the end of America’s combat mission in Afghanistan by welcoming home service members in New Jersey on Monday.
The commander-in-chief will greet the returning men and women of the armed forces at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, a military facility south of Trenton, he announced during his weekly address Saturday.
“As we go about our days . . . it’s important to remember our way of life — the freedom, prosperity and security that we enjoy as Americans — is not a gift that is simply handed to us,” Obama said. “It has to be earned by every generation.
“And no one sacrifices more to preserve our blessings than our extraordinary men and women in uniform.”
Obama sent a special thanks to the troops of the “9/11 Generation,” who have served in the wake of the terrorist attacks, before asking Americans to keep members of the military in their thoughts during the holidays. The war in Afghanistan is coming to a “responsible end,” Obama said.
But the U.S. still faces security challenges with ISIS in Syria and Iraq, and is fighting the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, he
added.