LIVE: First Lady Jill Biden Speaks to National Guard Families

General Stephen Nordhaus, Lieutenant Shakira Garden, John Garden, and Jaden Garden. Hello everybody. How's everybody doing today? Isn't it a great day? First, I would like to thank the First Lady, Dr. Biden. Thank you so much for having military members, the National Guard here today, this morning. What an incredible event for us and also to Joining Forces. Thank you so much for all that you do for military families and for National Guard and everyone around the country. And thanks to all of our National Guard families for making the travel and the trip in from across the 54, 50 states, three territories in the District of Columbia. We also want to remember Beau Biden and his family. Beau is a Delaware National Guardsman and as you know, the National Guard is an incredible and elite force, ready always to fight our nation's wars or to defend or respond within the homeland. And we also build partnerships, local and global, all the way from our local communities within our states and then also across 106 partnerships around the globe. But we know it can't be done without our people and our family members really help support our service members, both our soldiers and our airmen as they do the mission. As we talk about, we recruit airmen and soldiers, we retain families. Our families are critical to everything that we do, so we can't thank you enough for that. 2,600 communities across the United States our Guardsmen live in and sometimes our family members are at a school or work within a community where they're the only military families there. And so the support from the First Lady and Joining Forces and from all the different communities out there, we thank you for that. The National Guard military family readiness system has also supported 1.3 million family members and their services in FY23. And so once again, just a great job there. They help with financial assistance, education, tri-care assistance, employment assistance, child care, and also youth services. We're very proud of what the National Guard does for our nation and we even had some members fly in all the way from Guam, 8,000 miles away. Is Sergeant Santos here? All right, back there. And her husband Ron and Elias and Misa and Branson and Ray. Thank you so much for coming 8,000 miles away. Today we have 147 members from the National Guard here coming from 36 states territories in the District of Columbia. And so once again, we want to thank the First Lady for bringing us here today and for Joining Forces. And without further ado, I would like to introduce the next speaker coming from the Delaware National Guard, First Lieutenant Shikira Garden. 12 years of service. She's the commander for their public affairs detachment and she'll deploy next year over to Kosovo. And I know she's very excited about the trip and we're excited for you too. She's also a professor of criminal justice at the University of Salem Community College and she is here accompanied by her husband John, who does amazing things also to help folks with disabilities, both mobile and within their homes, and then their three-year-old son Jaden. And before I bring her forward, I also want to introduce Arlene, which is her birthday, and Shikira's mother. Where are you? Happy birthday. Lieutenant Garden. Thank you sir. It is truly an honor to stand before you today and share my journey with the Army National Guard, a journey that has truly shaped both my career and my personal life in ways that I could have never imagined. My journey began when I was trying to figure out my career path after graduating from undergrad and starting graduate school. I learned about joining the Army National Guard, which afforded me the opportunity to serve my country, community, gain skills that served me in many ways, right, from leadership, discipline, and confidence. And it also provided me support for higher education goals that I set. With this opportunity, I found myself seeking a new challenge, something that would push me to grow and honor the legacy of my family, while also carving out my own path. My family has served in the U.S. Army for four generations, but always in an active duty and enlisted capacity. I wanted to continue that legacy, but in a way that was meaningful to me, and that's when I decided to join the Army National Guard and later become an officer. The National Guard offered me the flexibility to balance my civilian career and passions, while still giving me pride and satisfaction of serving my community and my country. The Guard offers me a unique flexibility to serve when activated, whether it's during Honor Guard detail, because a service member unfortunately has passed away, and providing families with closure and honoring the commitment of our fallen service members, responding to hurricanes, COVID missions, or being activated for a deployment. One thing that stands out for me about the National Guard is the emphasis of family. They make sure that our families are involved and included in the process. My family and I have had the pleasure of participating in numerous events that the Delaware National Guard has created, such as holiday farm visits, pumpkin patch outings, movie nights, and summer family days at the local water park. It's these moments that remind me of the strong sense of community and support that the National Guard provides, not just to the soldiers, but also to their families. Through my experience, I've learned the Army National Guard is not just a branch in the military, it's a family. It's a place where you can pursue your civilian dreams while still giving back in a meaningful way. And for me, it's been the opportunity of a lifetime, as I stand before you here today. And it gives me great pleasure to introduce the First Lady of the United States of America, Dr. Jill Biden. Thank you. So you kids, honestly, you've all been so great. You all got dressed up. You all look so great. You want to come up on the stage Okay. See, I know from my grandkids and my kids that you serve too, so thank you for your service, all of you. So it's great to be here today with a fellow community college professor and a Delawarean. Lieutenant Garden, thank you for sharing your story and for adding a new link to the chain of your family's military legacy. And I'm so grateful to you, John and Jayden, for your family's service. And General Nordhaus, you are guided by a deep sense of purpose. Thank you for your decades of service to our country and for this new chapter, as you will make the Guard stronger and more resilient. And I'm also grateful to Major General Wendy Wenke, SEA John Raines, and his spouse Karen for their record of service and leadership. So the Bidens are a Guard family, and our son Beau was a major in the Delaware Army National Guard. So we understand what makes Guard life different. You don't live on bases, and one day you'll be in a uniform and the next you'll be running a small business or practicing law or teaching at a community college. You live and work and worship among civilians. And through your service, you become the beating heart of all of your communities. But I know that that life isn't easy. It asks you to balance the demands of a career and the responsibilities of stepping up for our country, to spend time away from your family, sometimes at a moment's notice, to put your lives on the line to answer the call of duty. The day after Joe's inauguration in 2021, I took baskets of chocolate chip cookies to our National Guard troops who had kept us all safe on that important day. It was a small act, but it was full of a Guard's mom's love and gratitude. And National Guard families are always in my heart. And as First Lady, I've made the National Guard families and all the military families a priority. And over the past four years, through our initiative to support military families called Joining Forces, I've been making sure that National Guard kids have the support they need in schools and that spouses have the careers that they, opportunities that they deserve, both the physical and mental health of our service members. I began my time as First Lady by thanking National Guard members, and I remain grateful for your service and for sharing your stories and hopes, all of it with me. And I've been so proud to work arm in arm, you know, together to make this life a little easier for fellow Guard families. Now, this is a special time of year as we transform this house for the holidays. Did all you guys like it? And one of the privileges I have as First Lady is deciding who will be the first to experience the magic of the season here at the White House. And every year I've asked to share it with the National Guard families. So today I hope that you found delight in everything from the gingerbread house. Did you all see it over there? You didn't see it? You'll have to take a look. It's really, it's pretty cool. To the carousel. You saw the carousel right where we had our pictures taken, you know, and in the Blue Room and, you know, everything in all the rooms in the holiday season. And I hope that you will find peace in the flow of holiday season, peace in your purpose and strength in your community. May God bless you and your families. Happy Holidays, National Guard. Thank you.