President Joe Biden, and First Lady Jill Biden had a virtual meeting with service members on Christmas Day and this is how their discussion went:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE FIRST LADY: Hi, Merry Christmas. How are you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE PRESIDENT: Bahrain, Qatar, Romania \u2014 you\u2019re everywhere but home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE FIRST LADY: Yeah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE PRESIDENT: Sorry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE FIRST LADY: We are sorry. You know, one of the things we know \u2014 because we are a military family, we know what it\u2019s like to have you \u2014 you know, our loved ones \u2014 serving and being away during the holidays. And so, I\u2019m sorry you have to be away. We know what it\u2019s like for your families to have that empty seat at the table like we had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And my dad was a World War Two vet. He \u2014 he served in the \u2014 he was in the Navy, and he served in the South Pacific on a ship. He was a signalman. And our son Beau was in Iraq for a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, we certainly know, as a family, what it\u2019s \u2014 what your families are feeling today. And that\u2019s why we will continue \u2014 Joe and I will continue, forever and ever, to support you in any way we can \u2014 but, most of all, serve your families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe. Oh, here\u2019s \u2014 here\u2019s Commander. This is \u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE PRESIDENT: This is Commander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE FIRST LADY: (Laughs.) You can probably \u2014 there he is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE PRESIDENT: He\u2019s 16 weeks old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE FIRST LADY: Yeah. (Laughter.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody, and Merry Christmas. And it\u2019s wonderful to see you all. But I know, as Jill said, you\u2019d rather be home today, and I don\u2019t blame you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jill and I know how hard it is for you. But quite frankly, it\u2019s hard if your husbands, wives, moms, dads, children \u2014 be apart or are on duty during a season of togetherness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we Bidens understand that. We still, every once in a while, look at that empty chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, you know, service for your country is \u2014 whether you\u2019re in Iraq or \u2014 you know, Beau spent a year in Iraq with the Delaware Army National Guard. I remember that when we \u2014 it felt like, as I said \u2014 and all those birthdays and other occasions, celebrations where you\u2019re not together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, as your Commander-in-Chief, I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you, thank you, thank you. It\u2019s a poor substitute for what you\u2019re missing, but I understand. I just want to know how much we care. We\u2019re grateful for your courage, your sacrifice \u2014 not only your sacrifice, but your family\u2019s sacrifice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The holidays really bring into sharp focus being apart is \u2014 it\u2019s just part of the job, but it\u2019s a hard part of the job. And it\u2019s \u2014 but it\u2019s who you guys are. You\u2019re solid \u2014 you know, I get criticized for saying this occasionally, but you\u2019re the solid steel spine of the nation. You really are. Always vigilant, always ready when duty calls \u2014 365 days a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And during the holiday season, as we pray for peace and spread joy and glad tidings, we also look for hope toward the possibility of a better year and to give thanks \u2014 and to give thanks to everything \u2014 for everything we\u2019ve got to you, the service, your families, and to give you as much space as you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, we were going to send this guy over. But I want to \u2014 you know, we \u2014 give you so much to make our freedom and prosperity possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are \u2014 as I said, you\u2019re the best. Your families serve right alongside you through every one of your missions and your deployments and your hardship. And we owe you, and we owe your families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve often said that, as a nation, we have many obligations, but we only have one truly sacred obligation: to properly prepare those and equip those who we send into harm\u2019s way and to care for you and your families while you\u2019re gone and when you return home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s because \u2014 because all of you are out there doing what you\u2019re doing that America is \u2014 Americans all across the nation are able to spend the day with their loved ones enjoying the blessings of security of our American democracy. And we\u2019re so, so grateful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, we got Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard all on the line here, and I\u2019m looking forward to hearing from all of you about the work you\u2019re doing for our country and what\u2019s on your mind. And you can ask your Commander-in-Chief any questions you want to. I\u2019ll try to answer them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

END<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Joe Biden, and First Lady Jill Biden had a virtual meeting with service members on Christmas Day and this is how their discussion went: THE FIRST LADY: Hi, Merry Christmas. How are you? THE PRESIDENT: Bahrain, Qatar, Romania \u2014 you\u2019re everywhere but home. THE FIRST LADY: Yeah. THE PRESIDENT: Sorry. THE FIRST LADY: We are sorry. You know, one of the things we know \u2014 because we are a military family, we know what it\u2019s like to have you \u2014 you know, our loved ones \u2014 serving and being away during the holidays. And so, I\u2019m sorry you have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-white-house"],"yoast_head":"\n