Joe Biden shares some of his Irish mother’s wisdom with Japanese disaster survivors

In every challenge, good can be found

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Vice President Joe Biden

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Vice President Joe Biden delivered a strong message from his Irish mother to the people of earthquake and tsunami blighted northeastern Japan this week.

After offering his deep condolences for all the lives lost and destroyed in the tragedy in March Biden then referred to the wise words his mother once told him.

"My dear mother, an old Irish lady, used to say in the most difficult moments - including when I lost my wife and daughter - she said, 'Joey, out of everything terrible, something good will come if you look hard enough for it,' Biden told a crowd of Japanese families, business leaders and local government officials, many of whom had been personally touched by the disaster."

"It’s hard to look for it.  It’s hard to accept that.  But it’s true,' Biden said. 'And the DNA of the Japanese people is riddled with the notion that it’s true."
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Speaking at Sendai Airport, which closed in the aftermath of the disaster, Biden remark how it quickly reopened with help from the US military, which had cleared the runway, allowing relief flights in.

"Within hours, our military launched what we refer to in English as ‘Operation Friend’ - the single largest humanitarian relief effort in American history,' Biden said in a report quoted on ABC NEWS. 'And it was done without having to convince the American people of anything.  It was spontaneous.  It’s because of the affection for the people of Japan.  That's the building block upon which this partnership and alliance of ours is built."

"There are some around the world who are betting on the decline of America and the inability of Japan to rise again.  They are making a very bad bet,' Biden said. 'Both of us - both of us will continue to grow and prosper.  And together - together we are a significant part of the engine that will allow the world to recover."

Biden visited Japan on the last leg of his week-long state vist through East Asia.

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