It's great to be here today with a fellow community college professor and Delaware resident. Lieutenant Garden, thank you for sharing your story and for adding a new link to your family's military legacy. I am very grateful to you, John and Jaiden for your family's service.
General Nordhaus, you are driven by a deep sense of purpose. Thank you for decades of service to our country - and for this new chapter, because you will make the Guard stronger and more resilient.
I am also grateful to Major General Wendy Wenke, SEA General John Raines and his wife Karen for their record of service and leadership.
The Bidens are a Guard family - our son Beau was a major in the Delaware National Guard. So we understand how life in the Guard is different.
You don't live on bases. One day you'll be in uniform - and the next day you'll be running a small business, practicing law, or teaching at a community college.
You live and work among civilians. And through your service, you become the beating heart of your communities.
But I also know that this life is not easy. It requires you to balance the demands of your career with your responsibility for our country, to spend time away from your families - sometimes when it's not convenient - and to put your lives on the line to answer the call of duty.
The day after Joe's inauguration in 2021, I brought baskets of chocolate chip cookies to the National Guard soldiers who protected us all on that momentous day. It was a small act, but one filled with the love and gratitude of a Guard mom.
I've always had the National Guard families in my heart.
As First Lady, I made National Guard families - and all military families - a priority.
Over the past four years, through our military family support initiative, Joining Forces, we have helped ensure that National Guard children have the support they need in schools, that spouses have all the career opportunities they deserve, and that we take care of our members' physical and mental health.
I began my tenure as First Lady by thanking the members of the National Guard, and I remain grateful to them. For your service and for sharing your stories and hopes with me. I was proud that we could work together, hand in hand, to make life easier for the families of Guard members.
Now is a special time of year when we turn this house into a holiday home. And one of the privileges I have as First Lady is deciding who gets to be the first to experience the magic of the season here at the White House.
Every year I have asked to share it with National Guard families.
So I hope you found joy today in everything from the gingerbread house to the carousel that circles the tree in the Blue Room - and that even in the flow of the holidays you find peace in your mission and strength in your community.
May God bless you and your families.
Happy Holidays!
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