Joe Biden praises the '9/11 generation' of West Point graduates and tells the cadets to prepare for new threats...like China

By James Nye

Published: 14:47 EDT, 26 May 2012 | Updated: 17:04 EDT, 26 May 2012

Vice President Joe Biden told the 972 Army cadets who graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Saturday that they deserve special praise because they decided to enter military service fully aware of the danger of war after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks

'Your generation, the 9/11 generation, is more than worthy of the proud legacy that you will inherit today,' Mr Biden said in the commencement address at the world-famous academy's football stadium.

Lauding the brave choices of the Class of 2012 - and their so-called '9/11 generation' - Vice President Biden's commencement address focused on the United States' new foreign policy challenges including cyber threats and a rising China.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden makes his way down a row of cadets as he arrives to address to graduates of The United States Military Academy at West Point

He noted that nearly 3 million young Americans joined the military after the al-Qaeda attacks of 2001, knowing they were likely to be sent into battle in remote parts of Iraq and Afghanistan.

'Hundreds of thousands of you have laced up those combat boots and walked across those barren deserts and snow-capped mountains,' he said in remarks that were also beamed live to the U.S. Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan as well as the White House press room.

But Mr Biden, whose eldest son Beau served in Iraq as a captain in the Delaware National Guard and was in the audience at West Point, said Saturday's graduates would have to focus on a new set of threats, with the Iraq war over and Afghanistan's ending.

Vice President Joe Biden arrives to deliver the commencement address during a graduation and commissioning ceremony at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York

Vice President Joe Biden presents a diploma to valedictorian Alexander George Pagoulatos during a graduation and commissioning ceremony at West Point

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (R) accepts a saber and staph from Class President Sulev Grant Sepp after Biden addressed graduates of The United States Military Academy at West Point

'Winding down these long wars is enabling us to replace and rebalance our foreign policy, to take on the full range of challenges that will shape the 21st century, challenges different than those of the 20th century,' said Mr Biden.

President Barack Obama, who is running for re-election with Biden in November, unveiled a new military strategy earlier this year that would 'pivot' U.S. attention to Asia as troops return home from the wars his predecessor George W. Bush launched after the September 11 attacks.

Vice President Biden was careful not to suggest there could be conflict looming in Asia, but said the growth of international commerce with the region made it necessary for the United States to give it more attention.

Graduates of The United States Military Academy swear an oath as new officers at West Point, New York

Graduates of The United States Military Academy throw up their hats at the end off the commencement ceremony

'The most critical relationship to get right is that between the United States and China. Every day the affairs of our nations and the livelihoods of our citizens become more connected,' he said.

Biden's speech echoed some of the themes of military success struck by President Barack Obama in his commencement address at the U.S. Air Force Academy last Wednesday.

Biden, like Obama, said U.S. combat troops have returned home from Iraq, the conflict in Afghanistan is winding down and American commandos killed al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden in May 2011.

'Those warriors sent a message to the world that if you harm America, we will follow you to the end of the earth,' Biden said.

Graduates of The United States Military Academy embrace at the end off the commencement ceremony

The academy speeches by Mr Obama and Mr Biden counter an assertion from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney that the president has led from behind in world affairs.

Praising President Barack Obama’s foreign policy record, the vice president looked to Asia and North Africa as venues for future American military and diplomatic strategy.

Anti-Taliban Afghan fighters watch several explosions from U.S. bombings in the Tora Bora mountains in Afghanistan December 16, 2001

A U.S. soldier watches as a statue of Iraq's President Saddam Hussein falls in central Baghdad in this April 9, 2003 photograph

Osama bin Laden is shown watching himself on television in this video frame grab released by the U.S. Pentagon May 7, 2011

'We learned during the Libya campaign, where we saved thousands of innocents and help topple a murderous dictator, that there’s almost nothing, nothing we cannot accomplish when NATO and our partners act decisively,' said the Vice President.

'And when we actually share the burden of the responsibility.'

NATO allies this week affirmed that the war in Afghanistan will halt at the end of 2014. The final U.S. troops left Iraq at the end of last year.

The Chinese J-20 stealth fighters take too the air for test runs: The planes mark China's entry as the third nation to have stealth technology vehind the U.S. and Russia

The new officers said they felt prepared to deal with the dangers of duty.

'I'm ready to sacrifice for those I love. I'm ready to go. Send me!' said 23-year-old Te Jay Espe of Stanwood, Wash.

'I know this country has given me a lot and I want to give back, I'm willing to give my life', said J.C. Van't Land, 22, of Hull, Iowa.