Second lady Usha Vance praised U.S. military families as being a “model” for the United States and for her “own family” during a visit to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejune in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
While speaking to military families at the base on Wednesday, Vance explained that as she has been working to reverse the “declining literacy rates” and disengagement of students in schools, the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) and military families were some of her “best partners.”
“It’s such an honor to be here with you at Camp Lejune, home of some of the finest Marines and military families in our nation,” Vance said. “For me, it’s particularly special to be right around the corner from Cherry Point — where my husband, JD, was stationed.”
The second lady continued to share that her husband, Vice President JD Vance, had told her so “many stories about his time in eastern North Carolina” that it felt like home to her.
“We are so grateful to you for carrying on the Marine Corps’ proud traditions of duty, honor, and service,” Vance said, adding that the vice president recently described U.S. Marines as embodying “boldness in action, unity in purpose, and a lightning readiness to go where the nation requires.”
Vance went on to share how, throughout the day, she spent time with military families at the elementary and high schools on base and expressed that it was “so heartening to see thriving schools and engaged students.”
“I’m so impressed by your commitment to building strong communities and schools,” Vance added in her speech. “Military families are truly a model for our country and for my own family, as we are in our life of public service today.”
Vance’s words come as she and first lady Melania Trump visited Lejune High School on the base and took part in “small group discussions on artificial intelligence and social media research,” according to Fox News.
During the visit to the base, Trump expressed that she and her husband, President Donald Trump, are thinking of U.S. Military troops and their families and have them in their “thoughts and prayers for holidays” and each day.
While speaking during the visit to the base, the first lady spoke about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) will grow to “take center stage in the theater of war,” but that it is the U.S. Marines who will “always play the most critical role in realizing mission success.”
“Technology is changing the art of war,” Trump said. “Predictably, AI will alter war more profoundly than any technology since nuclear weapons. The most significant change will be speed, speed in weaponry, decision making, detection, attack, and defense. Artificial Intelligence will take center stage in the theater of war; it already plays a meaningful role on the battlefield. Of course, it is the Marine who will always play the most critical role in realizing mission success.”
