JACKSONVILLE, N.C.—First Lady Melania Trump and Second Lady Usha Vance visited Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune on Nov. 19 to show their gratitude to U.S. troops and military families ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
As she addressed a crowd of troops and their family members inside a hangar on the base on Wednesday, the First Lady called military families “the quiet strength of our nation.”
“Your love, patience, and courage give our service members the confidence to serve with honor and the comfort of knowing home is always waiting,” she said.
Wednesday’s trip marks the first time the First and Second Lady have traveled together without their husbands since the start of the administration.
“It has been a memorable day and an honor to meet the men and women of the United States Marine Corps,” Trump said.
Trump and Vance both offered belated birthday wishes to the Marine Corps at large, just over a week after the service celebrated its 250th year in service, on Nov. 10.
“It’s such an honor to be here with you at Camp Lejeune, home of some of the finest Marines and military families in our nation,” Vance said.
The Second Lady said she was particularly excited to be relatively close to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point—also located in North Carolina—where her husband had at one point been stationed during his time in uniform.
Brig. Gen. Ralph J. Rizzo Jr., the commanding general of Marine Corps Installations East-Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune said: “As we enter the Thanksgiving holiday, a season centered on gratitude, it is deeply meaningful to welcome the First and Second Ladies, who have come here for exactly that purpose, to express gratitude to our installation, to our Marine Corps, to our Marines, Sailors, and their families.”
The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is based out of Camp Lejeune, deployed to the Caribbean Sea in August and is part of a growing military build-up around Latin America. Approximately 2,200 comprise the Marine Expeditionary Unit currently deployed in the Caribbean.
Ahead of their remarks to the gathered troops and their families, Trump and Vance visited with students of DeLalio Elementary School and Lejeune High School, and together prepared holiday care packages for those troops deployed with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit.
The ongoing U.S. force build-up in the waters around Latin America is dubbed Operation Southern Spear and has seen U.S. forces conduct lethal strikes on suspected drug boats operating in both the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific. To stem the flow of illicit drugs into the United States, President Donald Trump has also considered military action against land-based targets in the region and has not ruled out deploying U.S. forces to Venezuela.
Trinidad and Tobago is situated just a few miles off Venezuela’s coastline.
