Bajan among US military servicemen

JOE BIDEN, the United States Vice President and his wife Dr Jill Biden, recently visited US military personnel at an air base in the United Arab Emirates.

Biden spoke before hundreds of airmen as jets roared down the runway at Al Dhafra air base near Abu Dhabi, a main launching point for operations in Syria and Iraq targeting the Islamic State group.

Among the hundreds of airmen Biden addressed, was Jason McClean, the son of Ashley and Bertha McClean formerly of Rock Dundo, St Peter. Jason was able to shake hands with the vice president and get a photograph taken of the special event. Jason, a sergeant with the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, will be deployed in the United Arab Emirates until April when he is scheduled to return to his home base in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

He, along with his wife Esme, was able to visit Barbados in 2015 before he was transferred to Suffolk in England, and then to Abu Dhabi. He is expected to be reunited in April with Esme and daughter Vivianna who was only two weeks old when he was deployed. They plan to visit Barbados again in the near future with the addition to the family.

– ASHLEY L MCCLEAN