PM Transcripts

FOR PRESS P. M. No, 20/ 1964
MES3AGE FROM P ESID ENT JOHNSON
The Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, released
in Canberra this afternoon the text of a message wh. ich he had
received from the President of the United States of America.
The President's message is as follows
" Twenty-two years have passed since we
fought the decisive battle of the Coral Sea and it
is deeply reassuring that the enduring bonds of
co-operation and friendship between Australia and
An.. rica remain firm.
The Coral Sea eng ge :-ent in which
Australian and United States Naval units constituted
a single integrated coimmrand, serves to remind friend
and foe alike of the power of free peoples when they
move in concert against aggression.
It is with great pleasure. Mr, Prime
Minister, that I extend to the people'of Australia
on this memorable anniversary the greetings and best
wishes of the people of the United States,"
BACKGROUND NOTE The message was brought to Australia by
General Hamilton H, Howze, Commanding General Eighth US, Army
and Commander-in-Chief United Nations Forces in Korea, who is
visiting Australia for the Australian American Association's
Coral Sea Week Celebrations, General Howze handed it to the
Prime Minister at Sydney airport shortly after his arrival
this afternoon from Korea and before the Prime Minister left
for Canberra.
CANBERRA, 3rd May, 1964.