HONOLULU — President-elect Barack Obama offered appreciation to the U.S. military in a recorded message on Christmas Eve and then asked children of uniformed troops whether they had their wish lists ready.
Obama and his wife, Michelle, made a morning trek to Marine Corps Base Hawaii just northeast of Honolulu as they had done during the past three days.
After about an hour at the base, where he went inside a gym for a workout, Obama walked over to greet more than 60 people who waited for him. The president-elect shook hands as people took pictures.
“You guys got your Christmas list?” Obama asked one person standing in a makeshift rope line.
Earlier in the day, his aides released a recorded message of appreciation to the military “serving their second, third or even fourth tour of duty.”
“This holiday season, their families celebrate with a joy that is muted knowing that a loved one is absent, and sometimes in danger,” Obama said in the message, to air Saturday morning.
Obama asked the country to look to George Washington’s improbable crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas Day as inspiration to get through current tough times. Obama used that story to say that “hope endures and that a new birth of peace is always possible.”
Later Wednesday, Obama played golf with Marty Nesbitt and Eric Whitaker, who are neighbors of his in Chicago, and aide Eugene Kang.
