AT THIS very minute, somewhere in Vietnam, the American Red Cross is saving a soldier's life--feeding a starving child-sheltering a refugee family.
At this very minute, somewhere in America, our Red Cross is helping with a personal tragedy--easing a community crisis--tackling and solving the problems and emergencies of life.
At this minute, in these difficult hours, I am deeply grateful for the Red Cross. We should all be grateful--and very proud.
We should all remember Hurricane Betsy --and how the Red Cross rescued thousands from the brink of that disaster. We should all remember the nurses, doctors, and countless volunteers who stand watch around the clock in hospitals, tents, shelters--wherever there is human need or suffering--here and in Vietnam this very minute.
We should remember and give thanks--by giving our personal support to Red Cross Month. The Red Cross needs volunteers and funds. No dollar sign can measure the priceless service they provide. I ask every American to give--and generously--to the Red Cross.
The Red Cross has never failed us. We cannot fail it now. We owe it the goodness of our hearts and the labors of our hands. I know we shall offer a full measure of both volunteers and funds.
Note: On February 24 the President signed Proclamation 3705 designating the month of March as Red Cross Month, 1966 (2 Weekly Comp. Pres. Docs., p. 262; 31 F.R. 3221; 3 CFR, 1966 Comp. p. 28).
On the same day the White House made public a memorandum from the President to the heads of executive departments and agencies urging support of the 1966 campaign by civilian employees of the Government and by members of the Armed Forces (2 Weekly Comp. Pres. Docs., p. 263).
Lyndon B. Johnson, Remarks Recorded for the Opening of the 1966 Red Cross Campaign. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/238105
