First lady stops by military family celebration at JBER

First Lady Melania Trump rolls a ball of Play-Doh to one of the military children at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. (Photo by Wesley Early/Alaska Public Media)
First Lady Melania Trump rolls a ball of Play-Doh to one of the military children at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. (Photo by Wesley Early/Alaska Public Media)

First Lady Melania Trump spent some time in Alaska this morning.

On her way back from the president’s visit to Asia, the first lady landed to refuel at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.

She spent a little more than a half-hour visiting young children at a recreation center on base.

The event is part of a month-long celebration of military families at JBER. Some of the children visited by the first lady have parents that are currently on combat deployments in Afghanistan with the 4th Brigade Combat Team 25th Infantry Division.

As a group of children showed off a 3-D printer, she told them this was her first time in Alaska, and mentioned how fresh the air was compared with her recent visit to China.

There are currently around 14,000 service members assigned to JBER, along with another 15,000 family members.

Currently 1,800 service members are deployed abroad, the majority of them on combat missions in Afghanistan, according to JBER spokesman Jerome Baysmore.

Alaska Public Media

Alaska Public Media is one of our partner stations in Anchorage. KTOO collaborates with partners across the state to cover important news and to share stories with our audiences.

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