President Obama and the first lady visited troops at Marine Corps Base Hawaii on Christmas, thanking them for their service to the nation.

The President acknowledged the birth of Christ in his message to the troops.

“So on a day when we celebrate the Prince of Peace and many of us count our blessings, one of the greatest blessings we have is the extraordinary dedication and sacrifices you all make,” Obama said according to ABC News.  “We could not be more thankful. I know I speak for everyone in the entire country when I say, we salute you.”

The President spent the majority of the time talking about the end of the U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan at the end of the year.

“Next week we will be ending our combat mission in Afghanistan. Because of the extraordinary service of the men and women in the Armed Forces, Afghanistan has a chance to rebuild its own country. We are safer. It’s not going to be a source of terrorist attacks again. And we still have some very difficult missions around the world, including in Iraq,” Obama continued.

“We still have folks in Afghanistan helping the Afghan security forces. We have people helping to deal with Ebola in Africa and obviously we have folks stationed all around the world. But the world is better, it’s safer, it’s more peaceful, it’s more prosperous and our homeland is protected because of you and the sacrifices each and every day.”

Over 2,000 U.S. troops died during the Afghan war.

Vice President Biden and his wife visited troops at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland.