President Barack Obama will travel to Ft. Campbell, Ky. on Friday to personally thank some of the special operations forces that participated in the mission to kill Osama bin Laden, a White House official said today.

Obama added the Ft. Campbell visit to a previously planned trip to Indianapolis, where he is scheduled to tour the headquarters of a company that makes transmissions and talk about energy policy. He’ll then continue on to Kentucky, where he will be joined by Vice President Joe Biden.

The White House official did not specify which special operations units Obama will meet with, but they presumably include the Navy SEALS who have been identified as mounting the assault on the house in Abbotabad, Pakistan, where bin Laden was living.

Obama met on Wednesday with Adm. William McRaven, the commander of Joint Special Operations Command who oversaw Sunday’s raid ,to personally offer his thanks, the official said.

Announcing the death of bin Laden late Sunday, Obama thanked the small team of special operators who successfully carried out the mission earlier that day and praised their “extraordinary courage and capability.”

“We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country,” the president said. “And they are part of a generation that has borne the heaviest share of the burden since that September day.”

(Source: Politico)