Remarks on Awarding the Presidential Unit Citation to the First Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, California.

General Chapman, Secretary Warner, all of the distinguished guests on the platform, officers and men of the First Marine Division, and my fellow Americans here in attendance, and those listening on television and radio:

This is one of the proudest moments of my service as President of the United States--to be here for this ceremony; to award this Unit Citation, the eighth Unit Citation this division has received in its long and proud history, to the First Marine Division; and to welcome home the major elements of that division from Vietnam.

As I welcome you home, I can say to you that the Nation is proud of you. I can say to you, you come home mission accomplished.

When you went to Vietnam 5 years ago, you found a country there with millions of South Vietnamese under Communist rule, and the whole country threatened by a Communist takeover.

As you return, you left a South Vietnam with the South Vietnamese now assuming the major burden of their own defense, and soon developing the capability for their complete defense without the assistance of American fighting men.

Because of your service and the service of other Americans, we can now say that Americans can continue to be withdrawn at approximately or almost at a division a month. And because of your service and the service of other Americans, we can set as our goal--and achieve the goal--of a total withdrawal of all Americans; that goal to be achieved when the South Vietnamese have developed, as they will develop, the capability of defending themselves, and when we have returned all of our prisoners of war wherever they may be in Southeast Asia.

And now to the many of these marines who are young marines, and most of you are young marines, may I refer a bit to the history of this division going clear back to World War I, when the Fifth Regiment, which later became part of the First Marine Division, served them. It is a proud and distinguished history. The names are proud in the history of the Marine Corps and they are very proud in the history of this Nation: Belleau Wood, in World War I; Guadalcanal in World War II; Inchon, in Korea; and now Vietnam.

The question that I am sure must be in your minds is: What will the verdict of history be about your service in Vietnam? Certainly in terms of personal heroism there is no question about the verdict of history. Forty-eight members of the First Marine Division were awarded the Medal of Honor. It is the most decorated Marine division of all. This is the second Unit Citation in this war.

And there are other heroes in this division--heroes who received no medals; heroes who had a kind of heroism that was not required of your grandfathers who served in World War I or your fathers who may have served in World War II--a kind of service that was special to Vietnam: building a nation, building schools and hospitals and clinics, and helping people, and contributing thousands of dollars of your own funds for helping the people of Vietnam gain what you wanted them to gain--the right to build a nation free from outside control.

So there is no question about the verdict of history so far as your heroism is concerned.

The question which really remains is whether this war is ended in a way that will achieve our goal, and that goal is a Vietnam with a chance to defend itself from a Communist takeover.

If we fail to achieve that goal, if we take the counsel of those who would have us leave Vietnam, even if it means turning over the country to the Communists, then your service and the service of thousands of other Americans, 2 1/2 million in fact, in Vietnam, will have been a failure. But we are not going to fail. We shall succeed.

We shall succeed because of your valor. We shall succeed because of the support of the American people as they realize what the stakes are.

And as I stand here today I look back again over the history of this country. The marines and other Americans who fought in World War I thought they were fighting in a war to end wars, and then their sons fought in World War II.

The marines and other Americans who fought in World War II, after it ended and the United Nations was formed, thought that now at long last we can have an era of peace. And then their younger brothers fought in Korea, and their sons fought in Vietnam.

Now the question is: What happens after Vietnam? How do we end the war? What kind of a peace do we want? And we do want peace.

As I think of peace and as you think of peace, I think of the hundreds of schoolchildren who are here today. I think that the kind of peace we want--and this is our goal is just not peace in our time but peace in their time.

By your service you have done your part in trying to achieve that kind of peace, and I pledge to you that in the conduct of our foreign affairs we shall bring this war to an end in a way worthy of your service and the service of other Americans-to achieve a just and a lasting peace; to achieve what Americans have never had in this century: a full generation of peace.

So proudly today, as Commander in Chief, as one who was proud to serve with you and your predecessors in World War II, I say, America welcomes you home with pride, and we will not fail you in winning the peace.

Thank you.