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Vice President Pence and Second Lady Surprise Troops in Iraq With a Thanksgiving Feast

Beth Baumann
Beth Baumann  |  November 23, 2019 5:42 PM

Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence surprised troops in Iraq on Saturday. The Pences arrived with a Thanksgiving feast. It was Pence's first trip to Iraq as vice president, although he visited the country when he was a congressman.

According to CBS News, the Pences arrived at the Al-Asad Air Base, roughly 100 miles outside of Baghdad, around noon local time. The vice president received a briefing from the base's commanding officer and then had a phone conversation with Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi. 

The Pence's then shared a Thanksgiving meal with troops stationed at Al-Asad. Their feast included turkey, ham, corn on the cob, yams and macaroni and cheese.

As the service members came up to receive their plates, the Pences thanked each person for their service.

"The president and your vice president and the American people are behind you 100 percent," Pence said. He also mentioned the military pay raise, "the biggest one in nine years," that's in the budget that's currently sitting before Congress. 

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He said the Trump administration is "fighting to secure another pay raise for the men and women in the military."

"Congress should have finished their work months ago but you know that partisan politics and endless investigations have slowed things down, " Pence said.

After feeding the troops, Pence met with Iraqi President Nechirvan Barzani.