President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are scheduled to visit Fort Bragg today for an early Thanksgiving meal with soldiers and military families.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and his wife Kristen are expected to accompany them on the visit.
The White House says the visit is part of an initiative called “Joining Forces,” which supports families of service members and veterans, and their caregivers and survivors.
The First Lady’s father was a World War II veteran and one of the Biden’s sons – the late Beau Biden – served in Iraq. He was a member of the Army and then the National Guard from 2002 to 2015.
While campaigning in Fayetteville in 2020 on behalf of her husband, Jill Biden said the initiative would be one of her priorities as First Lady. Jill Biden also visited North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune in September after 13 service members – including personnel from Camp Lejeune and Fort Bragg – were killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan.
The President also has visited the area before. He came to Fort Bragg in 2009, while vice-president, to welcome 18th Airborne Corps troops returning from Iraq.
In 2019, President Donald Trump visited troops in Afghanistan during Thanksgiving.