President Joe Biden serves food to military families during a Friends Day celebration in honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday at Marine Corps Air Station 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 Friends Day celebration in honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday at Marine Corps Air Station 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 Force Base Cherry Point in North Carolina on Monday evening to celebrate Friends Day.
“The American people have no idea the sacrifices you make,” the president said before handing out dinner to the troops. “One percent of you represent 99% of society; you’re all volunteers, you all just show up and you’re always there.”
About 400 service members and their families sat down to dinner with Biden to enjoy a meal — turkey and ham with sides including stuffing and mashed potatoes — prepared by celebrity chef Robert Irvine and Marines from the dining service.
Earlier in the day, the president pardoned two North Carolina-raised turkeys on the South Lawn as part of a decades-old White House Thanksgiving tradition.
Chef Robert Irvine and Lance Caple. Oscar Aguilar, with Food Services, 2nd Landing Support Battalion, prepares mashed potatoes for a Friendsgiving dinner aboard Marine Corps Airlift Cherry Point, N.C., Nov. 21, 2022.
Staff Sergeant Mark Morrow/Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point
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Staff Sergeant Mark Morrow/Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point
Chef Robert Irvine and Lance Caple. Oscar Aguilar, with Food Services, 2nd Landing Support Battalion, prepares mashed potatoes for a Friendsgiving dinner aboard Marine Corps Airlift Cherry Point, N.C., Nov. 21, 2022.
Staff Sergeant Mark Morrow/Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point
The dinner was held in collaboration with the White House Joining Forces Initiative, a program that supports military members and their families. Maj. Joshua Schubert told NPR that most Marines and sailors are junior members serving under 2n.d 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’s 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 actually know what it’s like to be away from your family on Thanksgiving,” the first lady said. “So even though you’re away from your families back home and your home states, we know you’re here with your family here because the military is family.”
There is a long history of presidents visiting with troops around Thanksgiving. Last November, Biden traveled to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, for an early Thanksgiving dinner with soldiers and families.
Former President Donald Trump spent Thanksgiving in 2019 visiting troops overseas in Afghanistan, but in 2020, according to Reuters, he held a video call with service members from the White House instead of an in-person visit.