Joe Biden caused astonishment on Thursday after telling a family story, that of his uncle, supposedly devoured by cannibals in New Guinea during the Second World War. As is often the case with family stories, he took liberties with reality, the official documents showing that this uncle died in the crash of his plane at sea.
The White House defended Joe Biden on Thursday, saying the president, by telling a Family story, wanted to pay homage to the soil. The president went to a war memorial and touched his fingertips to the name of Lt. Ambrose Finnegan, engraved on the marker. But the website of the official agency for American prisoners of war and missing persons indicates that AmbroseFinnegan's plane "crashed at sea" off the coast of New Guinea.