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[caption id="attachment_3816" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, receives a tour of a Stryker combat vehicle from Army Sgt. Jed Glover while visiting with troops from the 2nd Infantry Division's, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team on Camp Victory, Iraq, July 4, 2010. DoD photo by Elaine Wilson[/caption]
WASHINGTON I spent a good bit of time in the U.S. Embassy while in Iraq last weekend with Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, which I wrote about earlier this week in "My Independence Day Weekend in Iraq With Dr. Biden."

In a rare moment of downtime, I joined Dr. Biden and her staff in the Embassy gift shop.In a quest for souvenirs for my children, I purchased one of the only items for kids:Â a stuffed duck with a T-shirt that said "Duck and Cover."
And that's exactly what I had done the night before, three times, while in my room at the embassy. I was typing a story on my computer when the call came over the loudspeaker: "duck and cover." There was a threat of indirect fire, the voice said, and people were supposed to either rush to a room without windows or, if walking outside, duck into one of several bunkers along the sidewalk.
At the first warning, I ran into a windowless room, slightly panicked, and waited it out until the all clear sounded. Although I didn't hear anything, mortar explosions had been heard, according to later news reports. I took a slower pace at the second warning and by the third, at 4:45 a.m., I was so exhausted I ducked under a blanket rather than back into the windowless room.
That day, elsewhere in Iraq, there was a deadly suicide bomber attack and another that wounded two Iraqi police officers.
These incidents served as another reminder of the fact that our troops, and many civilians, are under the threat of attack each day in Iraq and Afghanistan. Whether in combat or not, all put themselves in harm's way just by serving there.
Upon my return, my kids were thrilled to get the stuffed ducks that had traveled all the way from Iraq, but are still too young to catch the tongue-in-cheek humor of the "Duck and Cover" on those little black T-shirts.
I went to sleep last night in my own bed, without the concern of incoming attacks or a "duck and cover" sounding over a loudspeaker. But I'll never be able to look at those stuffed ducks, perched now on my children's desks, without remembering that night and the sacrifice our military members and civilian employees make each day on behalf of all Americans.
July 8, 2010: By Elaine Wilson-American Forces Press Service
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[caption id="attachment_4796" align="alignleft" width="350"]
MartinBoire and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Driver, Ryan Newman at 7-1-2010 Press Conference Announcing SOT Tires for this Year's Races at DIS[/caption]
Daytona Beach, FL July 1, 2010:
The troops tell me everyday how much it means to them when the folks here at home stand up for them the way they stand up for all of us.

And I want to thank Goodyear and NASCAR for stepping up for the troops in a major way.Like most of you I've never been in the military. But I've been in some pretty tough spots in this world, and I can tell you that what the troops do for us each day- is an awesome miracle.In fact, the red in the flag stands for them and they're giving their all to America, not asking what she'll do for them.So I ask you- isn't it time to show how much we care?And Goodyear and NASCAR have stepped up to help you and I do just that with a really fun and great program at Goodyear.com.
[caption id="attachment_4797" align="alignleft" width="350"]
Left to Right: Goodyear General Manager Stu Grant, NASCAR President, Mike Helton, Support Our Troops(r) Chairman Martin Boire, and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Driver, Ryan Newman announce Goodyear, announce historic, weekend-long transformation of Goodyear race tires to say 'thank you' to the service men and women of the United States Armed Forces and to help launch the Goodyear Support Our Troops® fundraising and support program.[/caption]
You wanna do something simple and fun to help the troops?  This is easy.  Just go to Goodyear.com, click on the SOT icon and get in on the action. And keep checking back because new things are being added every day.So I say, let's all get together and make the troops as proud of us as we are of them.And I am pleased to give you Nascar driver Ryan Newman, one of the great men who is going to help you and I do the troops proud by actually driving the launch of this great program on these Goodyear Support Our Troops tires this weekend.Martin C. Boire
Chairman, SupportOurTroops.Org
July 1, 2010
Permission is granted to reprint, rebroadcast, and quote the written material and images in this release in relation to this matter.

Permission is granted to reprint, rebroadcast, and quote the written material and images in this release in relation to this matter.