that engagement. And General Julian Smith, of the United States
Marine Corps, who was in command of the landing force of Marines
aboard the ship. And Captain Charles D. Beaumont, who a moment
ago struck the bell six times, who served on the ship for many years
and sounded the watch on that bell, as he says, "thousands of times. "

We are honored to have this monument as a lasting reminder of
this majestic craft which survived the bombardment of Pearl Harbor,
and aerial torpedo off Saipan and suicide dive bombers in Leyte Gulf
and off Okinawa. Let us dedicate the shrine to the memory of the
brave men who manned her guns in heroic defense of the country we
love and the freedom we cherish.

ADDRESS OF WELCOME, VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS

BANQUET

BALTIMORE

September 16, 1961

It is my pleasant task this evening to extend greetings to all of
you who are attending this 1961 Eastern States Conference of the
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, and especially to
welcome to Maryland those of you who have come here from other
parts of the country. We are indeed happy to have you here as our
guests. We hope that you will profit from your deliberations at this
session, and we hope that your stay in our State will be a most
pleasant one.

Several times since World War II—which we hoped, perhaps in
vain, would be the war to end all wars—we have been on the brink
of a third international disaster. Today, the crisis arising out of the
Berlin situation is such as to arouse grave fear and anxiety in the
hearts of all of us. This nation, and the other nations of the Free
World, face, in communism, an enemy as powerful as it is cruel and
ruthless. Under such conditions, the leadership of this country is
confronted with a tremendous task in its effort to find lasting peace
with justice in our troubled world. And under such circumstances,
it is most gratifying to all of us to know that this leadership, while
negotiating for a settlement of the crisis, is doing so from a position
of strength.... It may be said with certainty that the hope for
peace in the world depends on our remaining strong. And ultimately,

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