War Secretary Pete Hegseth spends Thanksgiving with US troops in Latin America: ‘We are grateful for you’

War Secretary Pete Hegseth spent Thanksgiving with Navy sailors stationed in the Latin American region, serving holiday meals and sharing a message of gratitude for their service.

In a video posted to X, Pete Hegseth and his wife, Jennifer, said they chose to spend the holiday aboard Navy warships with sailors supporting Southern Spear, a mission targeting narco-terror networks across Latin America.

“I was deployed three times — was always thinking about my family and hoped they were gathering with food and football and all those things,” Pete Hegseth said. “These folks won’t be. We’re going to bring them maybe a turkey and a little bit of cheer.”

The war secretary also addressed Wednesday’s attack that targeted two Washington, D.C., National Guardsmen, offering prayers for the victims and their families.

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“Our minds are also in Washington, D.C., with the two great Americans who were ambushed and targeted,” Pete Hegseth said. “And we’re prayerful for them, for all those around them, for their families.”

The Hegseths visited both the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill, according to the Department of War.

In another video posted to X, the Hegseths were seen serving Thanksgiving plates to sailors.

“I give out too much candy at Halloween and too much turkey on Thanksgiving,” Pete Hegseth joked.

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Aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford, the war secretary delivered an address to the crew.

“Happy Thanksgiving from me, the Secretary of War. Happy Thanksgiving from the President of the United States. Happy Thanksgiving from a grateful nation,” Pete Hegseth said.

He again referenced the Guardsmen, calling them a reminder of “the bravery and the selflessness of Americans who put it all on the line.”

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“Whether it’s in our nation’s capital, walking patrol, or whether it’s in our nation’s hemisphere, out at sea, interdicting cartels, defending the American people — we are grateful for you,” Pete Hegseth said.

He added, “So on this Thanksgiving, on behalf of my wife and I, Jennifer, who is here with me as well and will meet many of you, we simply say thank you, our deepest gratitude, and we renew how committed we are to you and your families.”

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The war secretary closed with George Washington’s 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation and added a prayer for all deployed forces.

“Godspeed, God bless, you are in our prayers, and we are grateful. Thank you. Thank you very much.”