TODAY, we pay homage to a young Polish nobleman who gave his life that this Nation might be free.
One hundred and eighty-six years ago, Casimir Pulaski, Brigadier General of the Continental Army, died of wounds received in the Battle of Savannah.
He came to America because, as he once said, "Wherever on the globe men are fighting for liberty, it is as if it were our own affair."
And so today, as we pause to honor this brave man, we are reminded of the great bonds of friendship that have always existed between the people of the United States and the people of Poland. It is now our intention to strengthen those bonds. We will build bridges across the gulf that has divided us for too many years now. They will be bridges of increased trade, of ideas, of visitors, and of humanitarian aid. We know that these bridges will be Poland's best hope for the future--and knowing that, we pledge ourselves to their completion.
And on this anniversary of Pulaski's death, we also rededicate our Nation to the cause he so nobly advanced. The torch has long since passed to us, and we know that "wherever on the globe men are fighting for liberty, it is as if it were our own affair." We pledge ourselves to that cause, too.
Note: Proclamation 3665 designating October 11, 1965, as General Pulaski's Memorial Day was signed by the President on August 3, 1965 (1 Weekly Comp. Pres. Docs., p. 44; 30 F.R. 9857; 3 CFR, 1965 Supp., p. 51).
The statement was released at the Naval Hospital, Bethesda, Md.
Lyndon B. Johnson, Statement by the President: General Pulaski's Memorial Day. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/241200