More than a decade of war, we are at apy toll moment. last year marked a major milestone and for the first time afghanistan forces took the lead to secure their own country. and today, you are in a support role helping to attain and assist afghan forces. for many of you, this is going to be the last tour in afghanistan. and by the end of this year, the transition will be complete, and afghans will take full responsibilities for their security and our combat mission will be over. america s war in afghanistan will come to a responsible end. [ applause ]
Let s get a little more from the white house on president obama s unannounced trip from afghanistan which kristin and i just learned about 15, 20 minutes ago. let s get the latest. reporter: we re getting some more details. president obama landed at 11:46 eastern time. he s traveling with his nsa add visor susan rice and top adviso advisors. this is his fourth visit to afghanistan. his first since may of 2012. you ll recall he delivered that speech at the presidential palace during that visit. of course, as we have been reporting the reason for the secrecy has to do with
Seahawk seahawks listen, i m a bears fan, but i but the one thing that i saw and i have seen it in every sports team that comes to the white house is the work that they do visiting walter reed, bethesda, doing work with military families. in fact, to help announce their draft picks this month, the seattle seahawks selected jeff baker who is a seahawks fan, but a veteran of iraq and afghanistan and a proud sergeant in the u.s. army to help make that draft pick, because they want to send a signal that we love our sports, and we love our football, and that is fun and games, but this is the competition that count, and these are the real heroes.
hashtag love dad when you think aarp, then you don t know aarp . our aarp tek program helps people find better ways to better connect with each other. find more real possibilities at aarp.org/possibilities with welcome back. tomorrow is memorial day. in the past 13 years of war nearly 7,000 americans have died in iraq and afghanistan. we celebrate them on memorial day but we remember them every day. we feel guilt too. guilt that we made it home and they did not.
When the president takes to that microphone stand or where ever he may be we ll take to that live. my cousin lieutenant geno is at the concert now. joining us now is sergeant verna jones and colonel jack jacobs. what do you think this means for the troops there in bagram afghanistan? any time they get a visit they will love it. it s more significant because it s a draw down. it s an expectation we ll have very few troops left. you know you re being deployed you re far away from home. it s a good morale builder.