Remarks on the Flight Deck of the U.S.S. Constellation

Admiral Roeder, Captain Flanagan, men of the "Constellation":

It is good to be here this morning with all of you who are here.

When you see them next, please convey the regards of the Commander in Chief to those men who were not contacted and had to spend Saturday night ashore.

As an old Navy man myself, from an earlier day, I know how deeply they all regret not being here with us this morning.

I am very privileged to be in your company.

Three times this ship stood on Yankee Station—this last time flying 10,000 sorties, 110 major strikes, against the heaviest concentrations of air defenses in the entire history of war. And I am very proud to say to you this morning, Captain, and to all the officers and all of the men of the Constellation: Well done.

I must depart shortly to the duties which always await. Having made this journey, I shall return with renewed gratitude and quickened pride for the men and women and the families of the services which keep my country secure.

It is a duty that no man should covet to decide that the sons of this Nation should be asked to go to the heart of danger. But when, from where the danger lies, there comes a call for support, it is a source of abiding gratification to know that the Nation can, and the Nation will, answer in full.

The call has come. I have seen your comrades of the Army, of the Marines, and of the Air Force—all working together as a team in harness to answer with a sureness and with a swiftness never known, never possible, before. Many men to whom I bade Godspeed only yesterday are giving the second measure, as many of you have already given, and are willing to give again. And to each of you givers, I salute you.

No money, no benefits, no privileges can compensate men for the duty which country asks and cause demands. In these times, as in all times past, the cause of freedom is a most demanding cause. It demands courage of those who must bear the battles. It demands constancy of those at home for whom the battles are borne.

Men may debate and men may dissent, men may disagree—and God forbid that a time should come when men of this land may not—but there does come a time when men must stand. And for America, that time has now come.

In Vietnam today, the foes of freedom are making ready to test America's will. Quite obviously, the enemy believes—he thinks—that our will is vulnerable. Quite clearly, the enemy hopes that he can break that will. And quite certainly, we know that the enemy is going to fail.

So we have taken our stand. We shall do all to stand—all that is asked—and all that may be required. The will of this generation of Americans will never be found wanting, abroad or at home.

You know—no men know better—that the tasks of war are tasks that all Americans abhor. But the tests of freedom are tests from which Americans will never turn.

Few of those tests are to be met by the tools or the tactics of war. The demanding cause that we champion never is more demanding than when it asks of us that we be a responsible nation—steadfast in our re¬solve, but no less steadfast in our restraint.

The past of nations, the past of powers, cannot guide or govern a nation whose power is greater than all the power of all nations past. Ours is such a power. We shall use it, as you have used it, with precision on the fronts of war, and with principle on the fronts of peace, praying always, as we prayed this morning, that our use will be wise and that the end will be just.

For you, for the Navy, Yankee Station is today. But the Navy that reaches out from there also has a mission for tomorrow. You are the picket ships in a line of freedom that stretches all the way around the world. All of you, the men who fly from these decks, the men who labor so faithfully and so competently and so unselfishly on those decks and below them, have a vigil to keep for peace.

I came here to spend the night with you, to look you in the eye and to tell you on behalf of all Americans that we are grateful to you and thankful for you. Our hearts will be with you when you leave your loved ones to return by summer to the duties that only you know so well.

But until freedom stands tall and strong in Asia, until this vast Pacific is a great community of peace, until the gun and the knife are sheathed, and until neighbors fear neighbors no more, Americans cannot rest, and Americans cannot sleep, and you Americans cannot be idle.

I am grateful that you are safely back home for the moment. And all the Nation is grateful for men like you.

As I prepare to leave you for the moment, as I greeted you yesterday, on behalf of all of your fellow countrymen, your Commander in Chief says God bless you and God keep you.

Each of you knows that there is a lot riding on you and that for you and your grand¬children, the kind of a world that they are going to live in is going to be determined by how well you do your job now and in the days ahead. The fact that you will do it well is not doubted by any.

Goodby [sic] and thank each of you.

Now I am going to run along to see a President of yesteryear—President Eisenhower.

As we look back on today in the years to come, when this moment is just a memory of times gone by, and people ask you the question, "Where were you in the time of testing and when your country was challenged?" each of you, with great pride, can answer, "I was with the Constellation." Thank you.