The Obamas Visit Marines in Hawaii

On Christmas day, the Obamas visited with Marines in Hawaii and the Bidens visited Walter Reed. See photos of the Obamas visit with the Marines here.

The Obamas spent about half an hour in the mess hall shaking hands with Marines and their families as they ate traditional holiday fare of turkey, ham, stuffing, corn and broccoli.

“Hi guys, Merry Christmas,” President Obama said as he entered the mess hall from a side door.

The president and the first lady went from table to table, reaching roughly a dozen, asking Marines where they were from and thanking them for their service.

“I’m proud of you guys,” Obama said at one point. The president, who was casually dressed in brown slacks and blue shirt sleeves, also chatted with a small child and autographed a picture. More at Politico

Obama Announces New Improved Veteran's Administration

Obama talks about creating one unified health record for veterans, who've found it hard to get all the benefits available to them. A veteran will no longer have to walk paper work from the Department of Defense to the VA. It will be electronically transferred. All VA sites will have access to a veteran's medical record.
Veteran care will be funded in a timely and predictable fashion from year to year, which will improve care, Obama said. Funding will increase $25 billion over the next five years. New funding will offer better mental health screening. There are 154,000 vets that are homeless. The new budget will aim to prevent a single vet from being homeless.

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Obama Visits Soldiers At Walter Reed

AP: Barack Obama stopped by Walter Reed Army Medical Center Saturday to visit wounded war veterans, a group that he has said endures substandard care under the Bush administration.
The presumed Democratic nominee, who was in Washington to speak to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, slipped into the facility shortly after 9 a.m. without stopping to speak to the small group of reporters who follow him. The visit wasn't on his public schedule.
Obama has criticized the Bush administration for its treatment of veterans returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and has suggested Republican rival John McCain would continue Bush policies if elected.