Statement by the President on the Physical Fitness of Young Americans.

I HAVE, on many occasions, expressed my concern over the physical fitness of our youth and I want to stress again the importance of a strong and vital nation--of a physically fit young America.

I am informed by General Hershey, Director of the Selective Service System, that since October 1948 of some 6 million young men examined for military duty, more than a million have been rejected for physical reasons alone. General Hershey likewise has told me that a very substantial number of these physically-unacceptable men were in the preventable category.

The number of these men in the preventable category--men who would not have been rejected had they participated in adequate physical developmental programs--represents more soldiers than we now have stationed in Berlin and West Germany ready to defend freedom.

The situation grows steadily worse. In the last year, more than a thousand men per month--an all-time high--were in the preventable category among those rejected for physical reasons.

I again urge school administrations to implement the basic physical fitness program developed by my Council on Youth Fitness, or a similar one, this fall.

Young Americans must be made fit--to serve our nation in its hour of need--fit to face the future with confidence and strength.