Ladies and gentlemen:
I want to express our welcome to Comdr. Carpenter and Mrs. Carpenter and the members of the family, and to the Williamses. We are very glad to have them again at the White House. I think that all of us as Americans take the greatest pride and satisfaction in the tremendous technical accomplishments which have made the flights of the astronauts possible, and we take the greatest pride in them and their families.
I cannot imagine better representatives of what we like to think our country stands for than the four men who have taken part in flights. And it is a source of great satisfaction to me as President at this time in our history that we have these Americans who are so conspicuous on the world stage and who symbolize our country. So we want them to know we are very glad to have them. They have all been unusually fortunate in their wives and in their children, and we want them to know that they have served their country, all of them, in a way which I am sure for the rest of their lives will be a source of satisfaction to them. So we want you to know that we are glad to see you again.
Note: The President spoke at 10 a.m. in the fish Room at the White House. In the first paragraph his words "the Williamses" referred to Walter C. Williams, head of Project Mercury, Cape Canaveral, Fla., and his family.
John F. Kennedy, Remarks of Welcome to Astronaut and Mrs. Scott Carpenter Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/235757
