Melania thanks US service members for their efforts
We know that we are free because you are brave, First lady tells soldiers; Melania makes history by flying in a V-22 Osprey aircraft and onto the deck of an aircraft carrier in Viginia
HAMPTON: Melania Trump made history Wednesday by lying in a V-22 Osprey aircraft and onto the deck of an aircraft carrier. The White House says it’s the irst time a irst lady has lown in an Osprey.
The tiltrotor aircraft takes off and lands vertically. Melania lew from Joint Base Anacostia-bolling in Washington to Joint Base Langley-eustis in Hampton, Virginia, and onto the deck of the USS George HW Bush and back.
She later tweeted about her “incredible light” and visit with service members.
In Virginia, Melania checked out the F-22 Raptor stealth ighter jet and addressed service members, noting that many had recently returned from deployment. Some had responded to such natural disasters as Hurricane Michael, which devastated some Florida Panhandle communities.
“I’m honoured to be able to say welcome home and thank you for answering the call of duty,” she said.
“I have said this before, but it’s worth repeating. We know that we are free because you’re brave. And I speak on behalf of my husband when I tell you we are forever grateful for your service.”
The irst lady exchanged high-ives with elementary schoolchildren and posed for selies with some of those in military garb.
She also spent time with the crew aboard the USS George H.W. Bush and toured part of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier named after the former president, who died in November.
In an interview with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity aboard the carrier, Mrs. Trump said the hardest part of being irst lady was dealing with “the opportunists who are using my name or my family name to advance themselves - from comedians, to journalists, to performers, book writers.” She said, “The problem is they’re writing history and it’s not correct.”
Melania’s stops at a pair of military bases Wednesday came during an unusually busy week of public appearances for the irst lady.
It was her second day in a row at Joint Base Anacostia-bolling.
Melania visited a different area of the base Tuesday to support an annual toy drive sponsored by the US Marine Corps Reserve.
On Thursday, she was to continue a decades-old tradition of irst ladies reading to patients at Children’s National hospital in Washington.