Obama visits Hawaii Marine Corps base

OAHU, Hawaii, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- U.S. President-elect Barack Obama paid a visit to armed services members having dinner with their families at a Hawaii military base, officials said.

Obama, spending the Christmas holidays at a vacation compound on the windward coast of Oahu, Thursday went to Marine Corps Base Hawaii Kaneohe Bay on the island, where he mingled with Marines and sailors having a traditional dinner of turkey, roast beef, ham and trimmings, CNN reported.

The president-elect was dressed casually in a polo shirt and khaki trousers and spent his time at the base chatting and shaking hands with men and women in the dining hall, which had been specially decorated for Christmas, the broadcaster said.

"Just wanted to say, 'Hi, hey guys,'" Obama told the military families.

He didn't attend any Christmas church services in Hawaii, the Chicago Tribune reported.

"The president-elect didn't want to disrupt a church community on Christmas with the burdens that come with a presidential visit," Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt told the newspaper.