The U.S. President and the First Lady served festive dinners to soldiers.
President Biden and his wife, Jill, helped serve Thanksgiving dinners to military personnel at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on Monday, thanking them for their service and dedication to the country.
Biden told the servicemen that he knows how much their loved ones miss them, especially during the festive celebrations.
“I know how difficult it is not to see a loved one at the table,” Biden told hundreds of soldiers. “You do so much, and your families give so much.”
Biden said he was “damn proud” to serve as commander-in-chief of what he called the best-armed forces the “world has ever seen.”
It was Biden’s first visit to Fort Bragg since he became president in January of this year. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper also attended the gala.
The First Lady also recalled Beau Biden, who served in Iraq and Kosovo, telling the soldiers: “We are so grateful for everything you do. And Joe and I feel like you’re family to us. And we can’t thank you enough.”
Biden, like many other U.S. presidents, spends time with the U.S. military during the holidays. Since he has withdrawn troops from Afghanistan and is going to complete the U.S. combat mission in Iraq by the end of the year, Joe Biden chose to visit American troops in the United States rather than abroad. Former presidents, including Donald Trump, Barack Obama, and George W. Bush, have visited troops in Iraq or Afghanistan during the holidays.
Much military personnel who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan are stationed at Fort Bragg.
Biden will travel to Nantucket, an island off the coast of Massachusetts, on Tuesday to spend Thanksgiving with his family, resuming a long-standing tradition that was interrupted last year due to the pandemic. Instead, he spent the vacation at his home in Delaware with his family.
