by Mindy Aguon, KUAM NewsThursday, February 22, 2007 Subscribe to Mindy's newsfeed
Vice President of the United States Richard Cheney returned to American soil this afternoon, stopping over on Guam after a trip to Japan to meet with Prime Minster Shinzo Abe. With Air Force 2 touching down at Andersen Air Force Base just shortly after 1pm, Cheney's agenda was to quickly meet about 2,000 troops stationed at the Yigo base, along with select members of Guam's media corps.The Vice President is only expected to be on Guam for about ninety minutes, and will not leave AAFB. He will also be presenting two heroism awards to a lieutenant colonel and a civilian for rescuing several swimmers at Tarague Beach back in late January who nearly drowned. Cheney was greeted by Governor Felix Camacho, Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo, Speaker Mark Forbes, Vice Speaker Eddie Baza Calvo, Senator Tony Unpingco and other leaders from the 29th Guam Legislature and military community. His visit as we reported came at the request of President George W. Bush. In a speech given aboard the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk air craft carrier near Tokyo, Japan on Wednesday, the Vice President explained that his visit to the region is an effort to "Reaffirm America's deep commitment to a forward presence in the Asia-Pacific region."Cheney's meeting with Prime Minister Abe was the ensure that Japan will continue to support the United States' policy in Iraq. After his visit to Guam the Vice President will head to Australia where he will meet with Prime Minister John Howard.