Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 82.djvu/1671

 82 STAT. ]

PROCLAMATION 3848-APR. 29, 1968

Our merchant ships are an essential part of the transportation bridges that extend from communities in America to those in Europe and Asia—and to our servicemen and women wherever they stand in freedom's defense. They have carried more than 20 million tons of food, weapons, and supplies to our fighting men in Vietnam. Last year alone, they delivered about 4 million tons of wheat to our friends in need in foreign lands. I n the same year, they transported 12 million tons of our products to our trading partners abroad—and returned with 10 million tons of their goods for our people's use. America's present position as the world's greatest trading power grows from its early tradition, when a strong merchant fleet carried the commerce of a young nation to the seaports of the old world. The imagination, daring and farsightedness of that fleet was exemplified by the SS Savannah, which in 1819 became the first steamship to cross the Atlantic. I t is in honor of that historic voyage that the Congress in 1933 designated May 22 as National Maritime Day and requested the President to issue a proclamation annually in observance of that day, to remind Americans of the importance of the merchant fleet to our national life. NOW, THEREFORE, I, LYNDON B. JOHNSON, President of the United States of America, do hereby urge the people of the United States to honor our American Merchant Marine on Wednesday, May 22, 1968, by displaying the flag of the United States at their homes and other suitable places, and I request that all ships sailing under the American flag dress ship on that day in tribute to the American Merchant Marme. I N W I T N E S S WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 22nd day of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and sixty-eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninety-second.

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48 Stat. 7 3. 36 USC 145.

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Proclamation 3848 MOTHER'S DAY, 1968 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

The hope, the courage, and the faith that guide us through all our lives are priceless gifts that go back in time beyond our first recollections. They were given us by our mothers and enriched with each passing year. To the extent that each of us makes use of these gifts, our adult lives will reflect our faith, our compassion, and our strength to meet our problems and obligations, and to deal with them wisely and justly in the finest traditions of our national character. Thus the training and love that we receive from our mothers play mighty roles in determining the quality of our adult lives—individually, and as a Nation.

April 29, 1968

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