The Bidens spend Friendsgiving with Marines and Sailors : NPR
President Joe Biden serves food to military families during a “Friendsgiving” celebration in honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday at the Marine Corps Air Station in Cherry Point, North Carolina, Nov. 21, 2022.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
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President Joe Biden serves food to military families during a “Friendsgiving” celebration in honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday at the Marine Corps Air Station in Cherry Point, North Carolina, Nov. 21, 2022.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden visited Marines and Sailors aboard Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina Monday night to celebrate Friendsgiving.
“The American people have no idea of the sacrifices you are making,” the president said before serving dinner to the troops. “One percent of you is 99% of the public; you’re all volunteers, you all just show up and you’re always there.”
Some 400 service members and their families sat down to dinner with the Bidens to enjoy a meal — turkey and ham with sides including stuffing and mashed potatoes — prepared by celebrity chef Robert Irvine and food service Marines.
Earlier in the day, the president pardoned two North Carolina-raised turkeys on the South Lawn as part of a decades-long White House Thanksgiving tradition.
Chief Robert Irvine and Lance Cpl. Oscar Aguilar, with Food Services, 2nd Landing Support Battalion, prepares mashed potatoes for Friendsgiving dinner aboard Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, Nov. 21, 2022.
Staff Sgt. Mark Morrow/Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point
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Staff Sgt. Mark Morrow/Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point
Chief Robert Irvine and Lance Cpl. Oscar Aguilar, with Food Services, 2nd Landing Support Battalion, prepares mashed potatoes for Friendsgiving dinner aboard Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, Nov. 21, 2022.
Staff Sgt. Mark Morrow/Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point
The dinner was held in conjunction with the White House’s Joining Forces initiative, a program that supports service members and their families. Major Joshua Schubert told NPR that most Marines and sailors are junior enlisted members serving under the 2n/a Marine Expeditionary Force and made the trip from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.
The first lady told those in attendance that she and the president know what it is like to be away from family during the holidays.
“We’re a military family. My dad was in the Navy, our son was in the Army. So we know what it’s like to be away from family on Thanksgiving,” the first lady said. “So even though you’re away from your families at home and in your home states, we know you’re here with your family here, because the military is family.”
There’s a long history of presidents visiting troops around Thanksgiving. Last November, Biden traveled to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, for a first Thanksgiving meal with soldiers and families.
Former President Donald Trump spent Thanksgiving in 2019 visiting troops overseas in Afghanistan, but in 2020, according to Reuters, he made a video call to the White House military instead of an in-person visit.
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