December 24, 1968
IT IS a source of the deepest satisfaction to me and to all of your fellow-countrymen that you have returned to your families and to your homeland in time for this holiday season.
We are all aware of the ordeal through which you have passed, and we thank God it has ended.
We extend our heartiest welcome home and I wish you and your loved ones a joyous Christmas and a Happy New Year.
LYNDON B. JOHNSON
Note: For the President's statement on the release of the crew, see Item 641.
Lyndon B. Johnson, Message to the Officers and Men of the U.S.S. Pueblo Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/236387