Lyndon B. Johnson photo

Statement by the President Upon Sending Additional Forces to the Dominican Republic.

May 01, 1965

UNITED STATES forces in the Dominican Republic have the necessary mission of establishing a neutral zone of refuge in the western zone of Santo Domingo in the terms called for by yesterday's resolution of the OAS Council.

This is a means of carrying out the goal of protecting the life, and ensuring the safe evacuation, of all foreign nationals.

However, the forces in this area are thinly spread and subject to continuing attack and sniper fire. Their current responsibility extends over nine square miles of a largely urban area. They also have the responsibility for keeping the port area of Haina free from attack from any side. Under current circumstances their capability is not adequate to this mission. For this reason we are lending additional forces. Those forces consist of two battalions of the 82d airborne division comprising approximately 1,500 men and additional detachments of marines.

These forces are engaged in protecting human life. It is our earnest hope that it will not be necessary for them to defend themselves from attack from any quarter.

Lyndon B. Johnson, Statement by the President Upon Sending Additional Forces to the Dominican Republic. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/241740

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