exponentially. and i just know that we've been really focusing on social media and the blogs as a really important part of our campaign in launching a book. and the author's presence online as well is really important. >> want to ask you about one more well-known author, viking author, ray. >> yes, we're coming out with his book in early october, and he is such a bold futuristic in his upcoming book he talks about reverse engineering of the brain, to completely understand the brain and how about will then help us create new technology and future machines. fascinating. >> we been talking with carolyn coleburn, director of publicity at viking press. >> in just a minute we'll hear from jill biden. she reached her children's book,

"don't forget, god bless our troops," about a girl whose father has gone off to war. during this event, hosted by the u.s. oh, mrs. biden is joined by vice president joe biden who also talks to the crew. this is about half an hour. >> good morning. and welcome to the d.c. national guard. on half of the men and women of the guard, army and air, i'd like to welcome all of you here this morning. my roll this morning is to say thanks. thanks to all of you for supporting the men and women in uniform. you know when we serve, you serve. and you as a families of the men and women are all dedicated to the mission except i would like to thank you for being here this morning, and i would like to

introduce a lane rogers, uso president and ceo for the metropolitan area. >> thank you, general. what a great introduction. and by t way, we'll be out with you next weekend when your aviators come home, welcoming them back. how are you doing? isn't this pretty exciting? i'm going to sit down so i can look at everybody. we have a lot of people there, don't we? and do you know why? no, we are here to salute you all because you are very important to people. that's what a vip is. did you know? that you. because you are very, very important. and i'm going to have the pleasure, we are going of the pleasure today of having a very special lady who is here today, and her name is doctor joe biden. and she's a teacher. and do you know one of the most

important jobs in the world is? what is it? teachers. that's one of the most important things you can do. she's also a very kind and very special lady. and she loves children. but do you know which children are the most special to her? no, military children. yes. i love the. children who have a mommy and daddy in the military. i'm going to ask you a question. is there anyone in here who has a mommy or daddy in the military? really? wow. i wonder how that happened. well, dr. biden knows that sometimes things can be a little hard for you because your mommy or your daddy is far away, or always working, right? do you know how she knows this? it's because she has two

grandchildren, one named natalie in the other is named hunter. and their dad is a soldier in the army. so natalie and hunter's daddy had to go far, far away, like some of your parents, right? and dr. biden, how sad the guy, because they miss their daddy so much. so dr. biden miss him very much, too. because he is her son. the soldier is her son and she loves him very much. so everyone had to wait a long time for him to come home. you all know that feeling, don't you? for your dad or mom to come home from work. after seeing how hard it was for natalie and hundred of their daddy gone, dr. biden wrote a book about them and what life was like for them while their daddy was gone. and do you know who she wrote the book for? not for me. not for any of us. for -- who said that? you right.

that's exactly who she wrote the book for. [applause] she wants you to know there are many, many kids like you who have a mommy and daddy who are in the military, and you are never alone. and guess what? this is so cool. you all get a copy of that book today. [applause] is that fabulous? and let me to you something else. there's going to be thousands of these books sold, and dr. biden is donating -- do you know what that means? what does that mean? [inaudible] >> very good. giving the money to the uso. do you know what we're going to do with that? we are going to make scholarships for kids like you when you get ready to go to college. isn't that a wonderful thing for a book to do? [applause] so i -- did i do that? i told you she was a very, very

special lady for doing that. but before dr. biden comes up to greater book, there's one other very special person i want you all to meet. are you ready? he is dr. biden's husband, and he is a father, and his son serves in the military. oh, yeah, and i almost forgot. he happens to be the vice president of the united states. vice president joe biden. [applause] >> hey, guys. how are you? please everybody, sit down. you were awful nice to do this on saturday morning with all the parents out there, too. you know, these are beautiful, beautiful children. i know your parents know there are tens of thousands beautiful children just like is all over the country. one of the great advantages i have of being vice president is i get to travel the world and meet our warriors, both in the

fobs and in our valley and in iraq and every other place in the world. jill, i am jill's husband. that is jill, mrs. biden. we all call her jill. has traveled around the world as well. and those of you who are spouses of, or parents of the, our brothers and sisters of anyone who has been deployed, you know that there's only 1% of you who are fighting these wars. the rest of the country appreciates it, but they don't really, it's not their fault. they really don't know exactly what it's like. and particularly for national guard families, who are -- we are a national guard family.

our son was deployed in iraq for you. and one of the things we noticed was that when your code regular army, you're on base, you of other people going to exact what you are. and to talk to, spouses have someone to talk to you. they can have coffee with a breakfast. they can commiserate how tough is when your husband or your wife is gone for six months, a year, for any period of time. missed birthdays, miss thanksgiving, miss christmas. and in his heart. and i guess jill and i always knew that, but we didn't really fully understand it until our son was deployed. and i felt pretty responsible, too, because that's okay, we

have great kids, don't worry about it. to the parents and to the adults in the room, you know, there's a different feeling of obligation when you help make the policy that you send your kids there. it's a different sense, a different feeling. it's like when so many general officers i know have sons and daughters in harm's way. as a matter of fact, the joint chiefs of staff son just got sent back to afghanistan, general 40 on a who i spent many days with in iraq, his son lost an arm in iraq. coming, all these, all of you have made such an incredible sacrifice. there's a famous phrase, and this is for the parents, spouses, there's a famous phrase, they also serve who only

stand and wait. they also serve who only stand and wait. when i used to watch jill every morning, we would coming, she stands over the sink, getting her coffee and i see her mouthing a prayer, the same where the general weiss gave her to give her comfort. because, you know when your loved one is overseas, it's every 10 minutes a you think about. it's every hour. it's constant on your mind. while we also found out, that we knew, is you kids, when your mommy or daddy is a way, it's hard. it's a hard thing. it's a difficult thing. and so mrs. biden found out, jill found out that there's a lot of ways to kind of make you feel better. and so i'm going to turn this over to chew in a minute, but the reason this book was written -- can i hold the book up, jill,

for a second issue a? this book is, the title is "don't forget, god bless our troops." it's a picture of natalie and her daddy. he's in uniform about to go away. he is home now and he is fine. he's home and he's fine. but, you know, the way they got that title was when you go to bed with your mom and dad, they kiss you goodnight, lots of times, lots of times you say prayers with mom and dad. and so natalie and her little brother would come and spend time with, they call us nana and papa. they come over and sleep at her house which is great fun force. and then we say prayers with them. and as she finished saying prayers with one eye, she was tiptoeing out of the room, like your moms and dads do sometimes, kind of sneak out if they figure you're asleep, yeah, you know that one.

and out of the stillness came a phrase from natalie. she said cantu, don't forget, god bless the troops. so this is all about you. it's about how you, we all know how hard it is for you guys, but how good it will be, it is, when mommy and daddy. so i'm going to stop now, and mrs. biden, -- we have the books now? you know, i think would be good if they had the books while she was reading it, don't you? does that make sense? >> that's fine, sure. spent will and have some copies now but mrs. biden was a few words and then she will read the book the and after it's all over you can tell me privately over here in the corner if it reminds you of any of the things -- and by the way, it's not just little kids. it's beautiful young women like you.

you don't have to be four or five, six, seven, eight. you can be 17, 18, 19. it doesn't matter. it doesn't matter. as a matter of fact, sometimes it's harder when you're 15 or 16, 17, 18 and 19. and so everybody is going to get a book, and so i'm going to stop now and give it to jill, mrs. biden. [applause] >> thank you. good morning, everybody. before we begin i just wanted to thank general schwartz for being here this morning, and thank you for your service. elaine, thank you for all that you do for the uso. and sloa has become a good friend. we've done lots of events together, and the uso to such wonderful things and i want to thank you for being the organization that gives out the scholarships for military children. i really appreciate it. thank you. [applause]

so, i'm jill biden, but you guys can call me nana. that's the most everybody calls me. i wanted to enter the shoe to natalie pics of this is natalie's story. so, as well as your story because how many of your moms and dads, coming of your moms and dads have gone to iraq or afghanistan? wow, most of you. okay. this is exactly your story. and as the vice president said, what i realize when they went around this country is that many americans don't even know anybody at all in the military. and they don't know how strong you are and how resilient you are when your moms and dads are a way. and some of things that you all go through. so that's why i decided as a teacher at the best way to get that message across was for teachers to read this to their

classrooms, and moms and dads to read this to their children. so that people become aware, just what your lives are like. and that's what this whole book is about. so i'll start to read, and natalie is going to read some of it. and actually this is what my son looks like. and this is their dog, webby and this is natalie. you can see this is what she looks like. this was a couple years ago when she was a little bit younger. and so now we will tell her story. oh, she toured this picture for the inside of the book. i love this picture.

all right. so i am on the first page. does daddy really have to go? daddy is a soldier, natalie's mom answers in a quiet voice. soldiers have to do hard things sometimes. she runs her hand through natalie's hair. her father takes natalie in his arms. home is where ever i am with you, he speaks softly. natalie smiles. i like that song, daddy. i liked it, she whispers. natalie sits on the floor of her room with stuffed animals all around her. her dolls are here. her books are here. even her dog, webby, is here. but one thing isn't here. daddy isn't here. i'm sure you felt the same way, right? outside the october sky is gray.

the leaves are falling. that he is not here, natalie thinks he can count as she watches a red leaf drifts past the window and out of sight. so this is the soldier, she is thinking of her daddy. so that's kind of far away as she is thinking of her daddy while he is away. she calls it the day we eat turkey. so what day is that? thanksgiving. make-a-wish, says nana, and pole, tug. snap. natalie pulls t wishbone in wind. i wish that daddy would -- nana says putting a finger to her lips. keep your secret and hopefully one day it will come true. be brave, natalie. the wind is blowing outside the kitchen window. natalie helps her mother big

holiday cookies. they will send the cookies today. so how many of you have sent cookies to your daddies and mommies? lots of you have sent their favorite things. will daddy be coming home, natalie sadly passed? natalie sees her mother turned away and wiped her eyes. she runs over and puts her arm around her mom. i love you, mommy. i love you. be brave, natalie. so many people are kind to our family. yesterday, the neighbors brought over a homemade pizza to today, dads friend, alex, is shoveling the sidewalks. your dad is sure helping the country, alex says. i want to help, too. on the lawn, natalie and hunter are rolling big snowballs.

they are making a snowman. natalie puts an army camp on the snowman's head. hunter collapses hands and cheers. day, a snow soldier, natalie shouts. be brave, natalie. natalie stands in the church hallway, looking at a page of the church bulletin. she touches the page. here. her father's name is here, along with the names of many of the soldiers. people will pray for all of them. a girl behind her is also looking at the names. natalie wonders, is her daddy or mommy far from home, to? is or mommy or daddy safe? i'm sure that's some the things that go through your minds, right? hi, natalie says shyly.

high, the girl and just the right await natalie knows they will become friends. be brave, natalie. do you want to turn the page? thank you. natalie's baby tooth is hanging by a thread. mom turns on the computer and get that on video chat. you know that's skype. daddy, daddy, hunter ways. natalie's tooth is ready to come out, says mom. she's going to pull it. natalie sees her dad waiting for and ways that. i'm afraid, daddy. it may hurt. dad smiles. go, go, go. you are a bigger. so i'm sure many of you skype with your mom and dad when they were over seas, did you? yes, good. so nice when you're able to see them when they are far away. natalie's teacher holds up a

picture. there are many soldiers in the picture, and one of them is natalie's dad. the teacher points to him. soldiers are far, far away, she says. they are fighting for our country. natalie feels special, proud. on her way to recess she looks at the picture again. she leans over and kisses her dad right on the nose. be brave, natalie. do you remember doing that? yes? natalie and hunter are playing soldier with their daddy does. do you guys have daddy dolls? does anybody here have a daddy dog? yes? hunter starts to cry. i want daddy. natalie holter doll up in front of her face. she pretends the dog is a puppet. don't cry, hunter. be a big, strong boy she says in

a daddy voice. that's not daddy talking, says doctor. yes, it is, that's what daddy would say. hunter nods. he stops crying. he wipes his eyes. be brave, natalie. okay, so this is the page where the title comes from. i'm tired, natalie on to. natalie and hunter staying overnight at nana and papa's house. hunter is already asleep. natalie snuggles next to her grandmother. we had a busy day, didn't we, nana? nana smiles, but it was a good day. you were such a helper, too. we sent hundreds of boxes overseas. you know, honey, you're daddy isn't the only soldier in the army. there are many soldiers far away from home, along with you.

now they will know we care. okay, let's say prayers before you fall asleep. natalie closes her eyes and everything is quiet. then she opens her eyes for brief moment. and don't forget, nana, she says in a sleepy voice, god bless our troops. be brave, natalie. all right, so here is natalie when she's on the swim team. anybody here on the swim team? yes? natalie stares down at the blue shimmering water. she hears the sound of splashing kids. i can't, mommy. her mother stands in the pool waiting. you can do it. pretend you are swimming to daddy. natalie takes a deep breath. one, two, three, job.

natalie feels the water over her head. she sputters as she comes up laughing. i did it, mommy. i did it, i did it. he brave, natalie. natalie and hunter whether army t-shirts all summer. their mom chuckles. natalie, that shirt is so dirty they can stand by it so. let me watch it. but, mommy, soldiers get dirty when they wear their uniforms. why can't i? webby seems to agree. webby barks. natalie is making a picture. carefully, she draws long red stripes leading white spaces after each one. next, she picks up a crayon and colors in a blue square in the corner. then she dots the blue scare with white stars. what is she making the flag.

it has to be the best picture ever. it's for someone very special. be brave, natalie. natalie is so excited, she bounces here, she bounces there. she sees soldiers everywhere hugging their families. suddenly, she sees someone hurrying towards them. mommy, hunter, jil nana, there's daddy. natalie races to her father and hugs him around the lakes. so i'm going to let natalie reed the last page because this is the best part of all. >> he lifts her up, up, up to his shoulders. daddy, you are my brave daddy. her dad laughs. no, no, no. it's you, my little natalie.

you are my brave girl. [applause] >> thank you. well, thank you for coming, everybody. it's nice to see all of you. spent before you all leave -- before you all leave we have two daughters and her house -- two dogs in her house. we have little webby, but now he has another dog. his name is chance. is a big german shepherd. he lives with us down the washington, the vice president suspect the president and i always get the he has a neat portrait of his water gun and we kid about whose dog is smarter to i think our dog is the smartest. but champ was really jealous, our dog champ was jealous when he found out that in the

souvenir stores they sell these little dogs that are portuguese water dogs. so champ said why can't i have a dog look like me? so we got little champ dogs. and i brought a bunch of them a long. so if anybody wants a champ dog, i will give everyone a champ dog. and the nose by the way, i noticed sometimes beautiful young women about age 19 and 20 like it, too. so they pretend they don't but you can grab one and you can pretend it's for your younger sister, okay? [laughter] and you guys. what do you think of this? isn't he soft? you can have champ. and do you know what i forgot to do? i will do it next time i see you guys. i will bring a long champ. he is such a good dog. we should have brought a long champ today. so thank you all. and just remember, what you're

daddy and mommy, they're working for the country, and they are always, always, always thinking about you. parents, thank you very much. thank you for your service. it's amazing what you do. and jill and michelle, jill and michelle obama has started an organization nationally to remind the american people of all other things that our military does for them. she talks about everybody should do a lease one act of kindness. so just keep looking out for one another, and i promise we will keep looking out for you. did you want to ask a question? do any of the kids want to ask a question or tell anything? what do you want to ask you, baby? [inaudible]

[laughter] >> thank you think you are very, very welcome. mrs. biden wrote this book. i didn't write the book. so i had nothing to do with it. i just happened to be her husband. i am a lucky guy. yes? [inaudible] >> you felt the same way? is that right? when your mommy and daddy lipscomb what was the thing that bothered you the most? when were you the saddest? [inaudible] >> yet, but -- [inaudible] what was the hardest part when you're going to bed? when you got up? when you're having dinner? was any time harder than another time? [inaudible] >> going to dinner, yeah. anybody else likes yes, baby.