YOUR CHILDREN'S TEETH

this is aircraft destroyed the presence of this attack aircraft care a world away from the United States here in a land bordering on the China Sea the peace and stability of a small nation is being threatened a place and the people our country is committed to defend because we are dedicated to the idea that peace is worth preserving [Music] [Applause] [Music] two decades of world change have brought United States carriers to a troubled area where the future of Asia is being determined this day this moment in other times of crisis in other places the appearance of our carriers was enough to maintain peace but this has not always been so and that is consider our own generation and it's days of crisis in response to sudden invasion in Korea United States carriers moved overnight to furnish close air support to our outnumbered forces carrier aircraft patrolled the Taiwan Straits while the nationalist Chinese forces moved the civilian population safely to Taiwan off the shores of Lebanon while the Marines landed the presence of our carriers close by and their aircraft overhead was enough to preserve stability and order in that small nation during the crisis in the Congo an aircraft carrier served NATO forces as a depot for jet fuel supplies from various places on the global sea the United States moved our naval forces into Cuban waters Russians and Cubans intent on establishing missile bases on our doorstep since their purpose a show of strength was sufficient to keep the peace and so it has been that in each emergency no matter where on the face of the globe United States carriers have responded each bringing a variety of weapons for any kind of war but using only what was needed to accomplish the job at hand to be ready now this instant understanding orders of America's attack carriers and of all who serve upon 4,500 men comprised this special-purpose community engineers and doctors pilots steamfitters postal clerks aircraft mechanics and firemen from captain to seamen they make this ship run in the old sailing ships man was the key to power in a visible and tangible way he trimmed the sails man the guns carried the powder boarded the enemy in hand-to-hand encounter in the carrier man is still the key to power but he uses more complex tools and more exotic skills you work 14 hours a day 20 when it's necessary sometimes to work alone sometimes as part of a team there is easier work ashore but here at least you are part of the most advanced technology of our age men and jobs on the flight deck are identified by color young men shunt million dollar aircraft about the deck handle tons of explosives pump millions of pounds of jet fuel into aircraft that leave and return to the deck nine or ten today [Applause] mechanics in brown and green work from dawn to dawn keeping 80 planes ready to fly and fight [Applause] flight-deck directors in yellow arrange all 80 exactly where and when needed for fixing fueling flying and fighting it should be no problem I would agree you don't have anything I'll stick them in here or on the or on the elevator vice grip that's a gun place for that that floater back there well on this next three spot we're going to be 4:02 okay will you tell them that we'll fly seven one three will 10 737 up along Texas down - Bravo our mission will be an escort and flak suppression coordinated attack composed of four a-sixes and eight a 4d some of the things that are we should be ever mindful about in this escort is a good lookout doctors they have all the information on the board here all right now we'll get into the actual this type of course another flight will be proceeding into the target on air on a heading of zero nine zero the briefing is anything but brief there is a great deal of information to impose just one of ten going on in ready rooms throughout the ship roll out and proceed on ahead and this will be the airplane on which three others will rendezvous [Music] man remains as ever the measure the pilots depend upon their own precise skills and justice fully on those who back them up because the airfield can move and because others like it are at work in other oceans it can deliver force or persuasion to 85% of the Earth's land area nowhere is there a target its aircraft cannot reach [Music] [Applause] from a standing start 20 tons of aircraft reach flying speed and 2 seconds flat [Applause] [Applause] every 30 seconds another plane to sent aloft 16 in quick succession [Applause] [Applause] [Music] call it training then when you work your way through the valleys and over the ridges in daylight or in the dark of night the intruder will do this and find the target in all kinds of weather for its radar system sees the terrain when the pilot cannot see it the Skywalk small for its bomb touring ability swords out to trunks from the enormity of mountain in wilderness precisely and as a kind of reminder that age is no reflection on the warrior the propeller-driven Skyraider the workhorse fighter of orion days has proven adept at ground support in jungle warfare the phantom fast and versatile will climb straight up from the deck to stand off an attack or penetrate deep to inland targets [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] these are the ingredients of an airborne strike deadly and dangerous daily and nightly chores for carrier aircraft so the striking range of its aircraft is added the speed of the carrier itself [Applause] with a cruising range of 500 miles a day it can draw into striking distance in a few hours [Music] when peace is threatened it can appear ready on arrival and stay for a show of strength or as a poised threat when the danger is past it can withdraw taking all its self-sufficiency with it [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the approach of the carrier onboard delivery plane is a welcome sight for it brings the mail from home priority air freight and occasional visitors within minutes the outgoing mail will be loaded and on its way back [Music] [Applause] with this most vital supply of all the reminder that no man is an island [Applause] far below the flight deck where a hull and keel converged the man-made tropics are as hot as any jungle there is no night or day just a tungsten lit sky full of valves and gauges [Applause] 20 feet below the waterline trained hands control one of the four engines that move the carrier across the sea at 30 knots [Applause] for boilers and 4,500 men need fresh water in great quantities some are responsible for its quality every one for its conservation [Applause] [Music] the smell of fresh bread is a sort of time reference in this city where 13,000 meals are served a day eggs and bacon do not sum in the morning for everyone if you have pork chops or chicken as the main course you know the day is well advanced even though you may have just risen from sleep a fighting ship is not a democracy it is a tool democracy uses to survive it is however a community providing all the services for health and physical well-being they can be found ashore [Music] you [Music] the work of the ship can be hot and tedious but there is always a chance to banish time and space to visit a world of your own choosing [Music] noise and commotion a part of the air you breathe you give up your privacy to the greater aims of a nation that extols the dignity of the individual you drop dead tired into the sack down here where night and day are the same we learn to ignore the violence on the roof overhead it takes a bit of doing to work a man into this exact existence and only responsible and can make it work the responsibility of one man for enough of each man for the ship so you work and train we reached the point where you and the ship are tuned to fight [Music] here at home the independence prepares to relieve a fighting ship on the line from 50 states they come all trained to do their job from cooking meals to operating the most complex electronic equipment from repairing tires to launching missiles the materials of war come from the nation that has created this mobile potent weapon the contributions of agriculture industry and research go onboard a large segment of the population has contributed its skill and its wealth to create this force [Music] tradition has it that bands be playing and flags be flying when fighting men put to see that is the framework of farewell but this is the true language of long separation [Music] [Applause] [Music] a community of 4,500 men separates from the mainland moving out upon the oceans that make islands of all our continents but with all that is given by a people to create and sustain this expression of prestige and power some here will give their lives [Music] we have come 12,000 miles the ship has crossed the equator twice Cape Town and Madagascar and Sumatra are far behind other ships join up and we arrive at Yankee station of North Vietnam the limited war we have come to fight is just over the horizon in rice paddy and rainforests in the weeks to come the carrier will launch its aircraft against targets that melt into the jungle and take advantage of the weather [Applause] this moment is the culmination of all training though it go back through all the years of a man's career back indeed to the primal education that qualified him to be here now when ingenuity and courage count for as much as his airplane or its weapons or the odds on survival [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you're on your own now on your way to mountain and jungle missile sites and anti-aircraft guns a radar man in the carrier CIC tracks you all the way [Music] information reaches here from every part of the ship and from the Hawkeye whose radar monitors all aircraft and route to the target and serves as the carrier's early warning system [Music] [Applause] [Music] for these men the war is still in some remote place yet there is anxiety here too sometimes it is tougher to wait than fight nature is a kind of natural enemy to what is proposed here that men can find this moving postage stamp airfield that other men can plan their approach to the deck that men can land here that this can be done time after time in an environment of wind and wave and weather and human element [Music] [Music] [Music] over the years the role of the attack carrier has been a changing one in this period of crisis for one small nation the force of this weapon has been unleashed in other instances it has not over the years it has allowed the United States to respond to the unexpected to bring this weapon to the support of friends or to confront potential enemies the attack carrier exists so these men who fly and fight might be effective that this can be done is the miracle of men who regard each other as ship mates and professionals [Music] [Applause] [Music] around the clock flying for weeks on end will consume tons and tons of explosives and jet fuel carriers on the line take brief moments to bring their food and fuel and ammunition reserves to capacity men are still needed to carry the powder these great ships some preparing for warfare some engaged in combat some representing our national interest in distant places stand ready to carry American power where it is needed when it is needed [Music] there will soon be another mission and then another each one reflecting the ordeal of all who serve upon the ship those who direct the course of the vessel operate the radar who plot the battle and maintain the equipment those who time after time rise from the deck to meet the enemy no matter where [Music]