Biden addresses thousands of vets in Indiana stop

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Vice President Joe Biden spoke to a group of veterans at the Indiana Convention Center about the war in Iraq Monday morning. 

The Iraq war has been going on for more than seven years. While this past week we saw the drawdown of combat troops, there are still 50,000 American soldiers and thousands of American diplomats in the country.

At one point, the U.S. had more than 170,000 troops fighting in Iraq during the surge of American forces in 2007.

Sunday, General Ray Odierno said that American troops will consider returning if the Iraqi military asks them to.

Just before Biden’s speech, one Vietnam veteran told 24-Hour News 8’s Jacqueline Policastro he just hopes the war in Iraq will be successful.

“I hope everything was worth it. I am proud of their work over there. I don’t yet have an opinion on whether or not Biden and Obama are doing enough for veterans. But there are a lot of issues for veterans like finding a job when they return home from war,” said Vietnam veteran Jack Campbell.

There are 5,555 seats open for Biden’s appearance. The address comes just days before President Obama is expected to make a major speech about the troop draw down in Iraq.