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Carnival thanks the troops with barbecue at Marine Corps Air Station

(Photo: Carnival Cruise Line)
A serviceman shows off the lasered thank you message on his burger's bun
Carnival Cruise LIne joined forces with Operation Homefront today to extend the July 4th holiday and thank men and women in uniform by hosting a 'social media powered barbecue' for troops at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego.

The event featured burgers whose buns were lasered with messages of thanks to service members using a culinary laser printer.

Americans were encouraged to show their appreciation of the military by tweeting and posting messages of gratitude via Twitter, Instagram and Facebook using hashtag #ThankYouBurger, More than 15,000 thank you messages were transmitted in real time to a tech-enabled grill at the base in San Diego, and then laser printed onto burger buns and served during a backyard barbecue themed event.

Carnival Vista godmother Deshauna Barber, the first woman serving in the US military to be named Miss USA, joined Carnival Corp. chief maritime officer Bill Burke and Operation Homefront ceo John Pray in serving nearly 2,000 burgers.

Carnival also donated $25,000 to help Operation Homefront fulfill its mission of building strong, stable and secure military families.

This special event was part of a continuing partnership between Carnival and Operation Homefront. Last year, hundreds of military families were welcomed aboard the company’s newest ship, Carnival Vista, prior to its inaugural sailing from the US. The festivities culminated a year-long campaign called Honor.Family.Fun that helped raise funds and awareness for Operation Homefront.