Navy corpsmen help Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden into gowns before their meeting with patients and families during a Christmas visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Dec. 25, 2011. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)
Honolulu Advertiser: President Barack Obama took time out of a quiet Christmas with family, friends and basketball to greet servicemen and women during their Christmas dinner on the Marine Corps Base Hawaii yesterday afternoon.
The president and first lady Michelle Obama posed for pictures, shook hands, hugged children and picked up babies … “I don’t think he left before he got a chance to shake hands with everyone who was there,” said Maj. Alan Crouch, the public affairs officer for the base. “He seemed appreciative of the service members and family members. It seemed like he got a lot out of it, as well.”…
…The president and his wife spent more than an hour shaking hands and hugging service members … Obama picked up 3-month-old Jensen Lao and bounced him a couple of times. “Merry Christmas, Mr. President,” one little boy called out.
“Did you get everything you wanted?” Obama asked a little girl. She showed him a new bracelet and the president pointed to Michelle Obama, who also had a new bracelet, and the first lady and the little girl compared bracelets.
…As the president moved down a dining table, he encountered a large man, taller than the president, wearing a Dallas Cowboys T-shirt.
“We’ve got to get you on the court,” Obama quipped. “I will not get an elbow in the lip if we play with this guy.”
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First Lady Michelle Obama and President Barack Obama visit the Marine Corps Base Hawaii on December 25, in Kaneohe, Hawaii