CITIZENS of Vallejo, while I cannot be with you, I am proud to participate in this way in these unique and very historic ceremonies.
With this new Polaris submarine, we honor a great American hero. Like so many of our Nation's heroes, his is a name of Mexican ancestry. As a soldier and as a statesman, General Vallejo was one of the first of the long line of courageous Mexican-Americans who fought so bravely for freedom and who worked so tirelessly for peace in the world.
In honoring him, we honor the citizens of your city which bears his great name. For 100 years you have built more than 500 vessels to fulfill the Mare Island slogan: "Our sole mission is to serve the Fleet."
I am sure that in building the Vallejo you will surpass all of your own past records. The mission of this vessel will be a mission of peace.
We today live in peace with our good neighbor and our good friend, the Republic of Mexico.
We of America work for a world in which all men of all lands may live side by side without fear, without suspicion, without war. To that goal we now dedicate this vessel.
Note: The President spoke early in the evening from the Cabinet Room at the White House to participants in the ceremony at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in California.
Lyndon B. Johnson, Telephone Remarks on the Occasion of the Keel-Laying of the U.S.S. Vallejo. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/239045
