History for Chron

President Lyndon B. Johnson visited pilots at a U.S. Air Force base in Thailand as fighting raged in the Vietnam War.

Johnson, whose movements were closely guarded, previously attended the memorial rites for Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt.

Johnson then addressed service personnel at the base in Khorat, Thailand.

“I realize that an old man is a poor excuse for your wife and your family and your loved ones, but I wanted so much to be with you at Christmas,” Johnson said. “I want to look each of you in the eye.”

The president went on to say that the military’s “cause was a just one” and that “right would prevail.”

Johnson said that by working with allies and the South Vietnamese, U.S. forces “are defeating this aggression – and we are doing it with a proportion of forces at least half of those usually required to cope with a guerrilla enemy of such size.”