RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (AP) — First Lady Michelle Obama surprised a group of U.S. servicemen and women based in Germany on Thursday, jumping in to serve them steaks at a special Veterans Day meal.
“Oh, my God! Where’s my camera,” gasped Lavondee Stallings, a preschool teacher whose husband serves in the military, as Obama entered the banquet room at Ramstein Air Base’s Officers Club.
Stallings was one of some 200 people with whom the First Lady spent time during a refueling stopover on the way home from her tour of Asia with President Barack Obama.
“I am missing Sasha and Malia desperately,” Obama said of her daughters as she spoke to the group gathered for the donated steak dinner, grilled by volunteers from the California-based Cooks of the Valley.
“But it is a thrill to be here with you guys, because we are so grateful to all of you,” she said. “Not just our servicemen and women, but their kids, wives, husbands and parents.”
After serving, Obama went through the room doling out hugs, handshakes and warm thanks to troops and their families.
She also chatted with their children, asking how they were doing in school and if they worked hard.
Ten-year-old Malaysia Chevere got a special shout-out when she told the first lady about her grades.
“She’s a straight-A student!” Obama told the room, as the fifth-grader and her mother beamed.
“It made me feel real proud,” said Malaysia’s mother, Sgt. Calvernette Chevere of Williamsburg, Virginia. “She (the first lady) made everyone here feel real special.”
Mashed potatoes with gravy, peas, corn on the cob, garlic bread and lemon meringue pie rounded out the menu.
Ahead of the stop at Ramstein, Obama met with wounded troops recovering at the nearby Landstuhl Regional Medical Center — the largest U.S. military hospital outside the United States, which regularly receives casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Besides meeting with the American troops, Obama was meeting with her German counterpart, Bettina Wulff, before continuing her journey back to Washington.
Elsewhere in Germany, U.S. troops based at the Grafenwoehr training range were participating in a Veterans Day competition to be carried live on ESPN television.
Events included a weapons assembly shuttle run, tug of war and 10-ton truck tire flip.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
