ONE THING that I noted--and I, of course, am very gratified--is that our POW's who are returning have enormous potential and have, of course, great affection and respect, and if every one of them has the offer of a job many of them are going to stay in the service. Others, of course, have offers of jobs, and there will be no problem.
But we have to remember that in addition to the POW's there are 2 1/2 million men who served in Vietnam. They also need jobs, and the very fact of the POW's returning reminds us of our obligation to all veterans, because they were all fighting for the same cause, a cause which is one that we can be proud of and that they can be proud of and that our POW's can be proud of, and that is why this project is so vitally important. [Inaudible]
Why don't you tell us how you are coming along on this?
JAMES F. OATES, JR. [Chairman of Jobs for Veterans]. Well, Mr. President, I want to do that very much indeed, and I have been looking forward to this opportunity. But before I do, I would like to take just a minute and return to Jobs for Veterans. I have called on Admiral Gayler and General Clay1 and had a long talk with both of them, largely having to do with the prisoners who are returning [inaudible] and I was so thrilled and I know you will be enormously pleased. Those officers said that the prisoners of war on their arrival went out of their way to express their great respect for the President and [inaudible]. Those are the men who mean so much.
THE PRESIDENT. Well, our respect is for them. Yes, sir. And here is the report?
1Adm. Noel A.M. Gayler, USN, Commander in Chief, Pacific, and Gen. Lucius D. Clay, Jr., USAF, Commander, Pacific Air Forces.
MR. OATES. This is the report, and I think you will find it is succinct and it has some good lingo and some better facts. It shows in the table there, and in the charts, how the unemployment ratio of veterans had gone below the unemployment rate for non-veterans in the same age group*
THE PRESIDENT. We would like jobs for them, too.
*The report presented to the President shows Vietnam-era veterans' unemployment (males aged 20-29) has been reduced from 9.1 percent in the second quarter of FY 1971 to 5.9 percent as of January, 1973.
MR. OATES. Absolutely. This involves women veterans, also. There are 60,000 women.
Note: The President met with Mr. Oates at 10:30 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White House. Mr. Oates presented the "1972 Annual Report: National Committee--Jobs for Veterans."
On the same day, the White House issued a report, entitled "Employment Services to Veterans--A Year of Action: Report for Fiscal Year 1972" (Government Printing Office, 27 pp.), which was prepared by the Manpower Administration, Department of Labor.
Richard Nixon, Remarks on Receiving the Report on the Jobs for Veterans Program. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/256058
