I WANT to tell you how pleased we are that you could come here to the White House and receive this great honor. This will always be a memorable day for you, to come to the first home of the land, and to be awarded this citation by the School Safety Patrol.
Nothing gives me more pleasure than to recognize the outstanding achievements of young people like you. Very often in America we tend to publicize the few youngsters who go wrong. We very often fail to mention the many youngsters who go right, according to the very best in American life.
There are achievements and excellence of all kinds, but one of the most heartwarming and one of the most soul stirring is an act of bravery. And when this act of bravery is performed by a young person, the whole rest of the society feels better.
The five Safety Patrols here today are heroes. Each of them, without regard for his or her own safety, saved the life of a fellow student. I am proud and I am happy to present the AAA Gold Lifesaving Medal to each of these outstanding youngsters. I know how proud their families, their mothers and their fathers, and the people from their State, their Congressmen and their Senators, who are here today, must be, and particularly the people of their neighborhood, how proud they must feel about what you have done.
So your President congratulates you and says thanks to you on behalf of a grateful Nation. We will always remember your act of bravery and we hope that you got as much satisfaction out of performing the task as we do out of giving you this little recognition today.
Thank you very much.
Note: The presentation ceremony was held at 5:15 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White House. The following recipients of the AAA Gold Lifesaver Medals were presented to the President by George Kachlein, president of the American Automobile Association:
Connie Ray Chaney, of Bradbury Heights, Md. who while guiding a group of first-graders on their way home from school, saw and rescued a 6-year-old boy from the path of a fast-moving car.
Steven Childs, of Detroit, Mich., who on his way to classes after completing his duty, saw four children in danger and saved them from a moving bus.
Raymond Moeller, of St. Charles, Mo., who while on duty rescued a youngster from the path of a speeding car.
Kenneth Shafer, of Kennedale, Tex. who saved the life of an 8-year-old child.
Paul Tucker, of Berkeley, Mo. who as a patrol captain was escorting some kindergarten children across a heavily traveled airport road when, after completing his duties, he saw and rescued a young girl from the path of a truck.
Lyndon B. Johnson, Remarks Upon Presenting the School Safety Patrol Lifesaving Awards Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/238809
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