Christening of the "U.S.S. Grand Rapids", Tacoma, WA, April 4, 1970

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The original documents are located in Box D28, folder "Christening of the "U.S.S. Grand
Rapids", Tacoma, WA, April 4, 1970" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary
and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
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[Photograph in Photo File]
CHRISTENING OF THE GUNBOAT "U.S.S. GRAND
RAPIDS" AT TACOMA, WASHINGTON,
3 P.M., P.S.T., SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 1970.
I AM HIGHLY HONORED AND MOST
PLEASED TO BE HERE WITH YOU AT THE
CHRISTENING OF THIS SPLENDID NEW GUNBOAT,
THE GRAND RAPIDS. I AM ESPECIALLY PLEASED
THAT MY DAUGHTER, SUSAN, WILL PERFORM THE
TRADITIONAL CHORE OF BREAKING A BOTTLE OF
CHAMPAGNE OVER THE BOW OF THE GRAND RAPIDS.
WHEN THE NAVY SENT SUSAN THE
INVITATION TO BE THE SPONSOR OF THE GRAND
RAPIDS, I ASKED HER IF SHE HAD ANY
QUESTIONS. "JUST ONE," SHE SAID. "HOW HARD
DO I HAVE TO HIT THE BOAT IN ORDER TO KNOCK
IT INTO THE WATER?"
IT IS SAID THAT A SHIP'S SPONSOR
IMPARTS SOME OF HER PERSONALITY TO THE SHIP
SHE CHRISTENS. IF THIS IS SO, THEN THE
GERALD LIBRARY
Digitized from Box D28 of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
-2-
GUNBOAT GRAND RAPIDS WILL BE A BUSY LITTLE
VESSEL, NEVER LACKING IN ENERGY AND DRIVE.
SHE WILL HAVE A WILL OF HER OWN, YET SHE
WILL SHOW GREAT DEVOTION AND LOYALTY TO
THOSE WHO GUIDE HER THROUGH A SEA OF
TROUBLES. ABOVE ALL, SHE WILL NEVER BE
IDLE. AS FOR HER CAPTAIN, HE WILL HANDLE
HER WITH GREAT CARE AND LOVE
AS YOU MAY KNOW
PATROL GUNBOATS
ARE NAMED FOR CITIES, ESPECIALLY CITIES
WHOSE NAMES SUGGEST THE CHARACTERISTICS
OF THE SHIP. IN THE CASE OF PG-98, THE
NAME GRAND RAPIDS SUGGESTS SPEED -- AND
THAT IS ONE OF THE CHIEF CHARACTERISTICS
OF THE VESSEL WE ARE CHRISTENING HERE TODAY.
THE GRAND RAPIDS HAS A DESIGNED
SPEED IN EXCESS OF 35 KNOTS.
THE NAVY SAYS.
ON THE "QT," ONE NAVAL OFFICER TOLD ME THE
SPEED FOR OUR SHIP IS CONSIDERABLY IN
EXCESS OF 35 KNOTS -- AND I AM READY TO TAKE
-3-
HIS WORD FOR IT
CERTAINLY THE GRAND
RAPIDS WILL HAVE THE SPEED AND ABILITY TO
DO THE JOB FOR WHICH IT WAS BUILT -- TO
INTERDICT AND DESTROY COASTAL SHIPPING IN
SHALLOW OR RESTRICTED WATERS AND TO DEFEND
SMALL CRAFT DURING AN AMPHIBIOUS OPERATION.
WHEN THEN SECRETARY OF THE NAVY
PAUL R. IGNATIUS DESIGNATED PG-98 AS THE
GRAND RAPIDS I WAS MOST PLEASED. THAT WAS
ON JUNE 26, 1968. AND WHEN THE NAVY
RECENTLY INFORMED ME OF MY AND MY DAUGHTER'S
ROLES IN THE CHRISTENING OF THE GRAND RAPIDS
I FELT MOST HONORED -- NOT JUST FOR MYSELF
AND SUSAN BUT FOR THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS,
MY HOME TOWN.
YOU MAY NOT KNOW THAT GRAND RAPIDS
IS THE SECOND LARGEST CITY IN MICHIGAN WITH
A POPULATION OF OVER 200,000. IT IS BEST
the
KNOWN AS A FURNITURE TOWN, A CITY WHERE FINEST
FURNITURE IS MADE AND MARKETED. LOCATED ON
-4-
THE GRAND RIVER, IT IS ALSO AN IMPORTANT
RAIL, WHOLESALE AND DISTRIBUTION CENTER FOR
FRUIT GROWING AND DAIRYING, AS WELL AS
AUTOMOTIVE AND OTHER INDUSTRIES. BEST OF
ALL, GRAND RAPIDS IS A TOWN WHERE FINE
PEOPLE LIVE -- GRAND PEOPLE, IF YOU WILL.
AND SO I FEEL THAT THE GUNBOAT WE CHRISTEN
HERE TODAY IS GETTING A GRAND NAME
PG-98 IS THE SECOND SHIP OF THE
FLEET TO BE NAMED IN HONOR OF THE CITY OF
GRAND RAPIDS.
THE FIRST U.S.S. GRAND RAPIDS WAS
A PATROL FRIGATE. SHE WAS LAUNCHED
SEPT. 10, 1943, BUT DID NOT COMPLETE HER
SHAKEDOWN UNTIL DEC. 2, 1944. THE FIRST
GRAND RAPIDS OPERATED AS A WEATHER PICKET
SHIP FROM JAN. 6, 1945, UNTIL JAN. 15, 1946 --
JUST A LITTLE OVER A YEAR. SHE WAS SCRAPPED
SEPT. 21, 1947.
I THINK THERE IS SOMETHING
-5-
SIGNIFICANT IN THE SCRAPPING OF THE FIRST
GRAND RAPIDS -- SOMETHING MOST MEANINGFUL
FOR US TODAY IN THE EXTREMELY BRIEF SERVICE
OF THE PATROL FRIGATE GRAND RAPIDS.
IT SPEAKS TO US OF THE FRANTIC
RUSH TO DISARM THIS COUNTRY AFTER WORLD WAR
II -- THE SAME IRRATIONAL TEARING DOWN OF
OUR DEFENSES THAT OCCURRED AFTER WORLD
Worl War II
WAR AND MOST RECENTLY AFTER THE KOREAN
WAR. AND I TELL YOU THAT THIS SAME MADNESS --
I DELIBERATELY AND PURPOSELY CALL IT THAT --
THIS SAME MADNESS IS APPEARING IN MANY
QUARTERS IN AMERICA TODAY.
I UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING TO
OUR GREAT COUNTRY AS WE ENTER THE DECADE
OF THE 70'S. WE ARE EXPERIENCING A
REVULSION AGAINST THE VIETNAM WAR AND
AGAINST ALL WARS. THIS REVULSION IS
TRANSLATED INTO ABHORRENCE NOT ONLY OF WAR
BUT OF ALL THINGS MILITARY AND OF ALL
-6-
DEFENSE-ORIENTED INDUSTRY. IT HAS LED TO
ATTACKS AGAINST THE DEFENSE ESTABLISHMENT,
OUR MEN IN UNIFORM, AND WHAT IS GENERALLY
LUMPED TOGETHER AS "THE MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL
COMPLEX."
IT HAS PRODUCED A CONCERTED
CAMPAIGN TO SLASH THE DEFENSE BUDGET
WITHOUT ANY CONSIDERATION FOR WHAT THIS
COUNTRY MUST POSSESS IN THE WAY OF ARMAMENTS
TO GUARANTEE ITS NATIONAL SECURITY AND TO
MAINTAIN SOME DEGREE OF PEACE IN THE WORLD.
IN 1945 GENERAL GEORGE C.
MARSHALL SAID:
"WE FINISH EACH BLOODY WAR WITH
A FEELING OF ACUTE REVULSION AGAINST THE
SAVAGE FORM OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR. AND YET ON
EACH OCCASION WE CONFUSE MILITARY
PREPAREDNESS WITH THE CAUSES OF WAR AND THEN
DRIFT ALMOST DELIBERATELY INTO ANOTHER
CATASTROPHE."
-7-
IT IS MOST IRONIC THAT MANY OF
THOSE WHO TODAY ARE ATTACKING WHAT THEY
CALL THE MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX WERE
AMONG THE MOST ZEALOUS SUPPORTERS OF THE
LATE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY.
I WOULD LIKE TO REMIND THEM THAT
IN JANUARY OF 1961 PRESIDENT KENNEDY SAID
IN HIS INAUGURAL ADDRESS:
""WE DARE NOT TEMPT THEM WITH
WEAKNESS. FOR ONLY WHEN OUR ARMS ARE
SUFFICIENT BEYOND DOUBT CAN WE BE CERTAIN
BEYOND DOUBT THAT THEY WILL NEVER BE
EMPLOYED.
I SUBMIT THAT THOSE WHO LOOK AT
THE BARE-BONES DEFENSE BUDGETS OF THE
PRESENT ADMINISTRATION AND SHOUT THAT WE CAN
CUT MILITARY SPENDING BY $10 OR $20 BILLION
MORE ARE OPERATING IN A FOG -- A MENTAL FOG
GENERATED BY PIOUS HOPES THAT OTHERS OF US
BELIEVE CAN NEVER BE REALIZED.
-8-
OF COURSE THE ANTI-MILITARISTS
AND THE NEO-ISOLATIONISTS OF TODAY INSIST
THAT THERE IS NO COMPARISON BETWEEN THEM AND
THE PACIFISTS AND ISOLATIONISTS OF THE
1930'S. BUT THINK THE PARALLELS ARE
UNMISTAKABLE.
MANY OF YOU REMEMBER THE 1930'S.
REMEMBER WHEN HITLER WROTE HIS BOOK, "MEIN
KAMPF?" FEW PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY TOOK
HIM SERIOUSLY
the Vinited States in the 1920s+305
WE HAD ENGAGED IN UNILATERAL
DISARMAMENT. WE WERE LIVING IN A DREAM
WORLD. WE SAID WAR JUST COULDN'T HAPPEN.
AND IF IT DID HAPPEN TO SOMEBODY ELSE WE
WOULD NOT BECOME INVOLVED. THE MENTALITY
OF THE ENTIRE COUNTRY WAS ATTUNED TO WHAT
BECAME KNOWN AS THE "FORTRESS AMERICA"
CONCEPT.
I AM NOT BEING PARTISAN. IT WAS
A REPUBLICAN, SEN. GERALD P. NYE OF NORTH
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DAKOTA, WHO LED THE FORTRESS AMERICA FORCES
IN THE 30'S. BUT IT IS ONLY FAIR TO POINT
OUT THAT THE ISOLATIONISM BEING PREACHED
TODAY BY CERTAIN LEADING DEMOCRATS IN THE
SENATE IS STRONGLY REMINISCENT OF SEN.
NYE'S.
NYE BLAMED WAR ON THE INTERNATIONAL
BANKERS AND THE ARMS MANUFACTURERS. Today the
willains are The melitary of our undustralests who gave no the leaders to defeat Hiller &
TODAY WE SEE MILITANT YOUTHS the weapons
BURNING DOWN OR DAMAGING BANK BUILDINGS, to destroy Nazis The
LOOTING THE FILES OF A NAPALM MANUFACTURER,
AND PREVENTING COLLEGE CAMPUS APPEARANCES
BY RECRUITERS FOR DEFENSE INDUSTRIES.
THERE WERE PROTESTS IN THE 30'S
AGAINST COMPULSORY MILITARY TRAINING, AND
SO A NUMBER OF LAND GRANT COLLEGES MADE
MILITARY DRILL OPTIONAL. TODAY WE FIND
STUDENTS FORCING COLLEGE ADMINISTRATIONS
TO DROP ROTC FROM THE CURRICULUM. AND
TODAY, TOO, WE HAVE DRAFT CARD BURNING AND
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THE POURING OF BLOOD ON DRAFT CARD FILES.
AS A RESULT OF ANTI WAR HEARINGS IN
THE EARLY 30%S BY A COMMITTEE SEN. NYE HEADED,
THE CONGRESS IN 1935 APPROVED WHAT BECAME KNOWN
AS THE NEUTRALITY ACT. THAT LEGISLATION WAS
SIMILAR TO A RECENTLY-ENACTED SENATE RESOLUTION
LIMITING THE USE OF U.S. GROUND TROOPS IN LAOS.
THE ADMINISTRATION HAS NO INTENTION OF USING
GROUND TROOPS IN LAOS, BUT SEN. FULBRIGHT
PUSHED FOR THE RESOLUTION JUST THE SAME.
IN THE 30%S HITLER BUILT A TREMENDOUS
WAR MACHINE, JUST AS THE SOVIET UNION TODAY IS
AMASSING THE MOST HORRIBLE AND THREATENING
ARRAY OF ARMAMENTS.
IN THE 30'S AMERICA SLEPT. AND SO
DID ENGLAND. THOSE OF YOU OF MY GENERATION
REMEMBER A GAUNT-LOOKING BRITISHER WHO
JOURNEYED TO MUNICH TO MEET WITH ADOLF HITLER
AND AGREED THAT PART OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA SHOULD
GO TO NAZI GERMANY.
IT WAS NEARLY 32 YEARS AGO THAT
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THE BRITISH PRIME MINISTER WITH THE WING
COLLAR / MOUSTACHE AND UMBRELLA RETURNED TO
ENGLAND DECLARING THAT HE HAD ACHIEVED "PEACE
WITH HONOR PEACE FOR OUR TIME." YOU
REMEMBER HE STEPPED OFF A PLANE AT HESTON
AIRDOME OUTSIDE OF LONDON AND WAVED A "PEACE
FOR OUR TIME" MEMORANDUM SIGNED BY ADOLF HITLER.
NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN'S "PEACE FOR OUR
TIME" LASTED LESS THAN ONE YEAR. IT CULMINATED
IN A WAR WHICH ENGULFED THE WORLD AND RESULTED
IN 1,078,182 AMERICAN CASUALTIES, WITH
292,131 G.I. COMBAT DEATHS AND 115,185
AMERICAN DEATHS DUE TO NON-COMBAT CAUSES.
CHAMBERLAIN WAS WELL-INTENTIONED.
YET ALL WHO CHEERED HIM WHEN HE WAVED HIS
MEMO FROM HITLER ON SEPT. 30, 1938 DECLARED
YEARS LATER, "WE SHOULD HAVE STOPPED HITLER
AT MUNICH."
THERE ARE CURIOUS PARALLELS
BETWEEN 1938 AND 1970. THE PACIFISTS
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AND NEO-ISOLATIONISTS OF 1970 ARE
WELL-INTENTIONED TOO.
I AM NOT ADVOCATING REVIVAL OF THE
COLD WAR. IT WOULD BE THE LAST PERSON IN
THE WORLD TO URGE THAT BUT TO ABANDON
PRINCIPLE IN PURSUIT OF PEACE IS TO TAKE
THE SUREST ROAD TO ULTIMATE DISASTER.
DELIEVE WE SHOULD SEEK A DETENTE
WITH THE SOVIET UNION. I STRONGLY BELIEVE
IN NEGOTIATION, BUT ONLY IN NEGOTIATION
FROM A POSITION OF STRENGTH. WE DO NOT
HAVE TO SCRAP OUR PRINCIPLES TO ACHIEVE A
DETENTE.
WHENEVER ANYONE TODAY ASKS WHO
HAVE BEEN THE GREATEST MEN IN THE WORLD IN
THE 20TH CENTURY, ONE NAME LEAPS MOST
QUICKLY INTO THE CONSCIOUSNESS. THE NAME
[IS THAT OF] WINSTON CHURCHILL. HIS NAME
STANDS FOR ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE HEROISM, THE
BRAVERY THAT CARRIED ENGLAND THROUGH THE
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BATTLE OF BRITAIN WITH ITS PLAGUE OF
BUZZ-BOMBS. IT STANDS TOO FOR THRILLING AND
UNQUENCHABLE ORATORY THAT HELPED TO CARRY
ENGLAND THROUGH THE MOST TRYING TIMES IN
ITS GLORIOUS HISTORY.
WHEN MILLIONS CHEERED NEVILLE
CHAMBERLAIN FOR BRINGING "PEACE FOR OUR
TIME" BACK FROM MUNICH, CHURCHILL ROSE IN
THE HOUSE OF COMMONS AND DECLARED: "IT IS
THE MOST GRIEVOUS CONSEQUENCE WHICH WE HAVE
YET EXPERIENCED, OF WHAT WE HAVE DONE, AND
OF WHAT WE HAVE LEFT UNDONE IN THE LAST
FIVE YEARS -- FIVE YEARS OF FUTILE GOOD
INTENTIONS, FIVE YEARS OF EAGER SEARCH FOR
THE LINE OF LEAST RESISTANCE."
DOES ANY AMERICAN TODAY REALLY
BELIEVE THAT THE LINE OF LEAST RESISTANCE
IS THE PATH OF LASTING PEACE?
CHURCHILL CALLED THE APPEASEMENT
OF HITLER AT MUNICH "A DISASTER OF THE
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FIRST MAGNITUDE." TRAGICALLY, HE PROVED
AN EXCELLENT PROPHET.
LET US NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE
TODAY WE MADE IN THE 1930'S. LET US NOT
TEAR DOWN OUR NATIONAL SECURITY BY CONFUSING
MILITARY PREPAREDNESS WITH THE CAUSES OF
WAR.
LET US ACCEPT THE GREAT CHALLENGE
THAT CONFRONTS US -- THE CHALLENGE OF
MAINTAINING OUR FREE INSTITUTIONS IN THE
FACE OF A COMMUNIST MOVEMENT THAT THREATENS
TO DESTROY THOSE INSTITUTIONS.
THE WORLD IS TOUGH. IT IS POWER
THAT COUNTS. YET MANY AMERICANS TODAY
BELIEVE THAT THE PATH TO PEACE IS FOR AMERICA
TO ALLOW ITS POWER TO WANE AND TO INVITE (with hope)
that
THE SOVIET UNION TO EMULATE ITS EXAMPLE.
TODAY THE GREAT OCEANS ARE NO LONGER
SEAWALLS BEHIND WHICH WE CAN HIDE. THERE IS
NO TIME LAG IN WARFARE TODAY GIVING AMERICA
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THE KIND OF OPPORTUNITY TO ARM ITSELF WE
ENJOYED IN 1941. WE ARE CONSTANTLY STARING
AT THE TIP OF A NUCLEAR MISSILE -- AND WE
better be constantly alent
HAD BETTER NOT BLINK.
THE SEVENTIES WILL BRING GREAT
DECISIONS -- AND A TEST OF OUR SURVIVAL.
OUR DEFENSE ESTABLISHMENT IS
BEING ATTACKED BY THE WELL-INTENTIONED.
However
WE MUST BE EVER MINDFUL OF THE WORDS OF
PRESIDENT NIXON AS SET FORTH IN HIS RECENT
FOREIGN POLICY REPORT TO THE NATION:
"DEFENSE SPENDING MUST NEVER FALL SHORT OF
THE MINIMUM NEEDED FOR SECURITY. IF IT
DOES, THE PROBLEM OF DOMESTIC PROGRAMS MAY
BECOME MOOT."
I
SUBSCRIBE TO THOSE WORDS.
I
SUBSCRIBE TO THE IDEA THAT MAINTAINING
ADEQUATE AND CAPABLE ARMED FORCES IN THIS
COUNTRY IS OUR BEST ASSURANCE OF MAINTAINING
THE PEACE AND PRESERVING OUR PRECIOUS
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HERITAGE OF FREEDOM.
AS REGARDS THE NAVY, THIS MEANS
KEEPING THE FLEET MODERN AND UP-TO-DATE.
IT MEANS THE ORDERLY REPLACEMENT OF OLDER
SHIPS. IT MEANS ADAPTING THE LATEST
TECHNOLOGY TO NAVAL USE AND EMPLOYING THE
WONDERFUL NEW TECHNIQUES SCIENCE IS
PRODUCING. AND IT MEANS THAT WE MUST MAKE
THE BEST POSSIBLE USE OF ALL THE SHIPS AT
OUR COMMAND, INCLUDING GALLANT
PATROL GUNBOATS LIKE THE GRAND RAPIDS.
TODAY AS WE CHRISTEN THE GRAND
RAPIDS WE SHOULD REMEMBER THAT IT IS NOT
THE SIZE OF A VESSEL THAT COUNTS BUT HER
CAPABILITY OF FULFILLING HER ROLE. WE KNOW
THAT THE GRAND RAPIDS WILL MEASURE UP TO
HER MISSION. AND SO WE TAKE PRIDE IN THIS
SPLENDID LITTLE SHIP LA SHIP OF A TYPE
WHICH IS OLDER THAN OUR COUNTRY ITSELF
WE TAKE PRIDE IN THE GRAND RAPIDS
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AND WE SALUTE HER BUILDERS, THE TACOMA
BOATBUILDING COMPANY, AND THE UNITED STATES
NAVY. WE TAKE PRIDE IN KNOWING THAT IN
TODAY'S COMPLEX WORLD THE U.S.S. GRAND
RAPIDS WILL BE OPERATING ON THE SIDE OF
FREEDOM.
END : :
Distribution 10 copies Mr. Ford only
Office Copy
AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.
REPUBLICAN LEADER OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AT THE CHRISTENING OF THE GUNBOAT "U.S.S. GRAND RAPIDS"
AT TACOMA, WASHINGTON
AT 3 P.M., P.S.T., APRIL 4, 1970
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY EXPECTED AT 3 P.M., P.S.T.
I am highly honored and most pleased to be here with you at the christening
of this splendid new gunboat, the Grand Rapids. I am especially pleased that my
daughter, Susan, will perform the traditional chore of breaking a bottle of
champagne over the bow of the Grand Rapids.
When the Navy sent Susan the invitation to be the sponsor of the Grand
Rapids, I asked her if she had any questions. "Just one," she said. "How hard
do I have to hit the boat in order to knock it into the water?"
It is said that a ship's sponsor imparts some of her personality to the ship
she christens. If this is so, then the gunboat Grand Rapids will be a busy little
vessel, never lacking in energy and drive. She will have a will of her own, yet
she will show great devotion and loyalty to those who guide her through a sea of
troubles. Above all, she will never be idle. As for her captain, he will handle
her with great care and love.
As you may know, patrol gunboats are named for cities, especially cities
whose names suggest the characteristics of the ship. In the case of PG-98, the
name Grand Rapids suggests speed and that is one of the chief characteristics
of the vessel we are christening here today.
The Grand Rapids has a designed speed in excess of 35 knots, the Navy says.
On the "QT," one naval officer told me the speed for our ship is considerably in
excess of 35 knots and I am ready to take his word for it. Certainly the
Grand Rapids will have the speed and ability to do the job for which it was built --
to interdict and destroy coastal shipping in shallow or restricted waters and to
defend small craft during an amphibious operation.
When then Secretary of the Navy Paul R. Ignatius designated PG-98 as the
Grand Rapids I was most pleased. That was on June 26, 1968. And when the Navy
recently informed me of my and my daughter's roles in the christening of the Grand
Rapids I felt most honored not just for myself and Susan but for the City of
Grand Rapids, my home town.
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GERALD LIBRANY FORD
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You may not know that Grand Rapids is the second largest city in Michigan
with a population of over 200,000. It is best known as a furniture town, a city
where fine furniture is made and marketed. Located on the Grand River, it is also
an important rail, wholesale and distribution center for fruit growing and
dairying, as well as automotive and other industries. Best of all, Grand Rapids
is a town where fine people live -- grand people, if you will. And so I feel that
the gunboat we christen here today is getting a grand name.
PG-98 is the second ship of the fleet to be named in honor of the City of
Grand Rapids.
The first U.S.S. Grand Rapids was a patrol frigate. She was launched
Sept. 10, 1943, but did not complete her shakedown until Dec. 2, 1944. The first
Grand Rapids operated as a weather picket ship from Jan. 6, 1945, until Jan. 15,
1946 -- just a little over a year. She was scrapped Sept. 21, 1947.
I think there is something significant in the scrapping of the first
Grand Rapids -- something most meaningful for us today in the extremely brief
service of the patrol frigate Grand Rapids.
It speaks to us of the frantic rush to disarm this country after World
War II -- the same irrational tearing down of our defenses that occurred after
World War I and most recently after the Korean War. And I tell you that this same
madness -- I deliberately and purposely call it that -- this same madness is
appearing in many quarters in America today.
I understand what is happening to our great country as we enter the decade
of the 70's. We are experiencing a revulsion against the Vietnam War and against
all wars. This revulsion is translated into abhorrence not only of war but of all
things military and of all defense-oriented industry. It has led to attacks against
the Defense Establishment, our men in uniform, and what is generally lumped
together as "the military-industrial complex.'
It has produced a concerted campaign to slash the defense budget without
any consideration for what this country must possess in the way of armaments to
guarantee its national security and to maintain some degree of peace in the world.
In 1945 General George C. Marshall said:
"We finish each bloody war with a feeling of acute revulsion against the
savage form of human behavior. And yet on each occasion we confuse military
preparedness with the causes of war and then drift almost deliberately into another
catastrophe.
"
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It is most ironic that many of those who today are attacking what they call
the military-industrial complex were among the most zealous supporters of the late
President John F. Kennedy.
I would like to remind them that in January of 1961 President Kennedy said
in his inaugural address:
"We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient
beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed."
I submit that those who look at the bare-bones defense budgets of the
present Administration and shout that we can cut military spending by $10 or
$20 billion more are operating in a fog -- a mental fog generated by pious hopes
that others of us believe can never be realized.
Of course the anti-militarists and the neo-isolationists of today insist
that there is no comparison between them and the pacifists and isolationists of
the 1930's. But I think the parallels are unmistakable.
Many of you remember the 1930's. Remember when Hitler wrote his book,
"Mein Kampf?" Few people in this country took him seriously.
We had engaged in unilateral disarmament. We were living in a dream world.
We said war just couldn't happen. And if it did happen to somebody else we would
not become involved. The mentality of the entire country was attuned to what
became known as the "Fortress America" concept.
I am not being partisan. It was a Republican, Sen. Gerald P. Nye of North
Dakota, who led the Fortress America forces in the 30's. But it is only fair to
point out that the isolationism being preached today by certain leading Democrats
in the Senate is strongly reminiscent of Sen. Nye's.
Nye blamed war on the international bankers and the arms manufacturers.
Today we see militant youths burning down or damaging bank buildings, looting
the files of a napalm manufacturer, and preventing college campus appearances by
recruiters for defense industries.
There were protests in the 30's against compulsory military training, and
so a number of land grant colleges made military drill optional. Today we find
students forcing college administrations to drop ROTC from the curriculum. And
today, too, we have draft card burning and the pouring of blood on draft card files.
As a result of antiwar hearings in the early 30's by a committee Sen. Nye
headed, the Congress in 1935 approved what became known as the Neutrality Act.
That legislation was similar to a recently-enacted Senate resolution limiting the
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use of U.S. ground troops in Laos. The Administration has no intention of using
ground troops in Laos, but Sen. Fulbright pushed for the resolution just the same.
In the 30's Hitler built a tremendous war machine, just as the Soviet Union
today is amassing the most horrible and threatening array of armaments.
In the 30's America slept. And so did England. Those of you of my
generation remember a gaunt-looking Britisher who journeyed to Munich to meet with
Adolf Hitler and agreed that part of Czechoslovakia should go to Nazi Germany.
It was nearly 32 years ago that the British prime minister with the wing
collar, moustache and umbrella returned to England declaring that he had achieved
"peace with honor
peace
for
our
time."
You
remember
he
stepped
off
a
plane
at
Heston Airdome outside of London and waved a "peace for our time" memorandum signed
by Adolf Hitler.
Neville Chamberlain's "peace for our time" lasted less than one year. It
culminated in a war which engulfed the world and resulted in 1,078,162 American
casualties, with 292,131 G.I. combat deaths and 115,185 American deaths due to
non-combat causes.
Chamberlain was well-intentioned. Yet all who cheered him when he waved
his memo from Hitler on Sept. 30, 1938 declared years later, "We should have
stopped Hitler at Munich. "
There are curious parallels between 1938 and 1970. The pacifists and
neo-isolationists of 1970 are well-intentioned too.
I am not advocating revival of the cold war. I would be the last person
in the world to urge that. But to abandon principle in pursuit of peace is to
take the surest road to ultimate disaster.
I believe we should seek a detente with the Soviet Union. I strongly believe
in negotiation, but only in negotiation from a position of strength. We do not
have to scrap our principles to achieve a detente.
Whenever anyone today asks who have been the greatest men in the world in
the 20th century, one name leaps most quickly into the consciousness. The name is
that of Winston Churchill. His name stands for almost unbelievable heroism, the
bravery that carried England through the Battle of Britain with its plague of
buzz-bombs. It stands too for thrilling and unquenchable oratory that helped to
carry England through the most trying times in its glorious history.
When millions cheered Neville Chamberlain for bringing "peace for our time"
back from Munich, Churchill rose in the House of Commons and declared: "It is the
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most grievous consequence which we have yet experienced, of what we have done, and
of what we have left undone in the last five years -- five years of futile good
intentions, five years of eager search for the line of least resistance.'
Does any American today really believe that the line of least resistance
is the path to lasting peace?
Churchill called the appeasement of Hitler at Munich "a disaster of the
first magnitude.' Tragically, he proved an excellent prophet.
Let us not make the same mistake today we made in the 1930's. Let us not
tear down our national security by confusing military preparedness with the
causes of war.
Let us accpet the great challenge that confronts us -- the challenge of
maintaining our free institutions in the face of a Communist movement that threatens
to destroy those institutions.
The world is tough. It is power that counts. Yet many Americans today
believe that the path to peace is for America to allow its power to wane and to
invite the Soviet Union to emulate its example.
Today the great oceans are no longer seawalls behind which we can hide.
There is no time lag in warfare today giving America the kind of opportunity to
arm itself we enjoyed in 1941. We are constantly staring at the tip of a nuclear
missile -- and we had better not blink.
The Seventies will bring great decisions -- and a test of our survival.
Our defense establishment is being attacked by the well-intentioned. We
must be ever mindful of the words of President Nixon as set forth in his recent
Foreign Policy Report to the Nation: "Defense spending must never fall short of
the minimum needed for security. If it does, the problem of domestic programs
may become moot."
I subscribe to those words. I subscribe to the idea that maintaining
adequate and capable Armed Forces in this country is our best assurance of
maintaining the peace and preserving our precious heritage of freedom.
As regards the Navy, this means keeping the Fleet modern and up-to-date.
It means the orderly replacement of older ships. It means adapting the latest
technology to naval use and employing the wonderful new techniques science is
producing. And it means that we must make the best possible use of all the ships
at our command, including gallant little patrol gunboats like the Grand Rapids.
Today as we christen the Grand Rapids we should remember that it is not the
size of a vessel that counts but her capability of fulfilling her role. We know
(more)
-6-
that the Grand Rapids will measure up to her mission. And so we take pride in
this splendid little ship, a ship of a type which is older than our country
itself.
We take pride in the Grand Rapids and we salute her builders, the Tacoma
Boatbuilding Company, and the United States Navy. We take pride in knowing that
in today's complex world the U.S.S. Grand Rapids will be operating on the side
of freedom.
###
AN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.
REPUBLICAN LEADER OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AT THE CHRISTENING OF THE GUNBOAT "U.S.S. GRAND RAPIDS"
AT TACOMA, WASHINGTON
AT 3 P.M., P.S.T., APRIL 4, 1970
FOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY EXPECTED AT 3 P.M., P.S.T.
I am highly honored and most pleased to be here with you at the christening
of this splendid new gunboat, the Grand Rapids. I am especially pleased that my
daughter, Susan, will perform the traditional chore of breaking a bottle of
champagne over the bow of the Grand Rapids.
When the Navy sent Susan the invitation to be the sponsor of the Grand
Rapids, I asked her if she had any questions. "Just one," she said. "How hard
do I have to hit the boat in order to knock it into the water?"
It is said that a ship's sponsor imparts some of her personality to the ship
she christens. If this is so, then the gunboat Grand Rapids will be a busy little
vessel, never lacking in energy and drive. She will have a will of her own, yet
she will show great devotion and loyalty to those who guide her through a sea of
troubles. Above all, she will never be idle. As for her captain, he will handle
her with great care and love.
As you may know, patrol gunboats are named for cities, especially cities
whose names suggest the characteristics of the ship. In the case of PG-98, the
name Grand Rapids suggests speed -- and that is one of the chief characteristics
of the vessel we are christening here today.
The Grand Rapids has a designed speed in excess of 35 knots, the Navy says.
On the "QT," one naval officer told me the speed for our ship is considerably in
excess of 35 knots -- and I am ready to take his word for it. Certainly the
Grand Rapids will have the speed and ability to do the job for which it was built --
to interdict and destroy coastal shipping in shallow or restricted waters and to
defend small craft during an amphibious operation.
When then Secretary of the Navy Paul R. Ignatius designated PG-98 as the
Grand Rapids I was most pleased. That was on June 26, 1968. And when the Navy
recently informed me of my and my daughter's roles in the christening of the Grand
Rapids I felt most honored -- not just for myself and Susan but for the City of
Grand Rapids, my home town.
(more)
-2-
You may not know that Grand Rapids is the second largest city in Michigan
with a population of over 200,000. It is best known as a furniture town, a city
where fine furniture is made and marketed. Located on the Grand River, it is also
an important rail, wholesale and distribution center for fruit growing and
dairying, as well as automotive and other industries. Best of all, Grand Rapids
is a town where fine people live -- grand people, if you will. And so I feel that
the gunboat we christen here today is getting a grand name.
PG-98 is the second ship of the fleet to be named in honor of the City of
Grand Rapids.
The first U.S.S. Grand Rapids was a patrol frigate. She was launched
Sept. 10, 1943, but did not complete her shakedown until Dec. 2, 1944. The first
Grand Rapids operated as a weather picket ship from Jan. 6, 1945, until Jan. 15,
1946 -- just a little over a year. She was scrapped Sept. 21, 1947.
I think there is something significant in the scrapping of the first
Grand Rapids -- something most meaningful for us today in the extremely brief
service of the patrol frigate Grand Rapids.
It speaks to us of the frantic rush to disarm this country after World
War II -- the same irrational tearing down of our defenses that occurred after
World War I and most recently after the Korean War. And I tell you that this same
madness -- I deliberately and purposely call it that -- this same madness is
appearing in many quarters in America today.
I understand what is happening to our great country as we enter the decade
of the 70's. We are experiencing a revulsion against the Vietnam War and against
all wars. This revulsion is translated into abhorrence not only of war but of all
things military and of all defense-oriented industry. It has led to attacks against
the Defense Establishment, our men in uniform, and what is generally lumped
together as "the military-industrial complex.'
It has produced a concerted campaign to slash the defense budget without
any consideration for what this country must possess in the way of armaments to
guarantee its national security and to maintain some degree of peace in the world.
In 1945 General George C. Marshall said:
"We finish each bloody war with a feeling of acute revulsion against the
savage form of human behavior. And yet on each occasion we confuse military
preparedness with the causes of war and then drift almost deliberately into another
catastrophe."
(more)
-3-
It is most ironic that many of those who today are attacking what they call
the military-industrial complex were among the most zealous supporters of the late
President John F. Kennedy.
I would like to remind them that in January of 1961 President Kennedy said
in his inaugural address:
"We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient
beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed."
I submit that those who look at the bare-bones defense budgets of the
present Administration and shout that we can cut military spending by $10 or
$20 billion more are operating in a fog -- a mental fog generated by pious hopes
that others of us believe can never be realized.
Of course the anti-militarists and the neo-isolationists of today insist
that there is no comparison between them and the pacifists and isolationists of
the 1930's. But I think the parallels are unmistakable.
Many of you remember the 1930's. Remember when Hitler wrote his book,
"Mein Kampf?" Few people in this country took him seriously.
We had engaged in unilateral disarmament. We were living in a dream world.
We said war just couldn't happen. And if it did happen to somebody else we would
not become involved. The mentality of the entire country was attuned to what
became known as the "Fortress America" concept.
I am not being partisan. It was a Republican, Sen. Gerald P. Nye of North
Dakota, who led the Fortress America forces in the 30's. But it is only fair to
point out that the isolationism being preached today by certain leading Democrats
in the Senate is strongly reminiscent of Sen. Nye's.
Nye blamed war on the international bankers and the arms manufacturers.
Today we see militant youths burning down or damaging bank buildings, looting
the files of a napalm manufacturer, and preventing college campus appearances by
recruiters for defense industries.
There were protests in the 30's against compulsory military training, and
so a number of land grant colleges made military drill optional. Today we find
students forcing college administrations to drop ROTC from the curriculum. And
today, too, we have draft card burning and the pouring of blood on draft card files.
As a result of antiwar hearings in the early 30's by a committee Sen. Nye
headed, the Congress in 1935 approved what became known as the Neutrality Act.
That legislation was similar to a recently-enacted Senate resolution limiting the
(more)
-4--
use of U.S. ground troops in Laos. The Administration has no intention of using
ground troops in Laos, but Sen. Fulbright pushed for the resolution just the same.
In the 30's Hitler built a tremendous war machine, just as the Soviet Union
today is amassing the most horrible and threatening array of armaments.
In the 30's America slept. And so did England. Those of you of my
generation remember a gaunt-looking Britisher who journeyed to Munich to meet with
Adolf Hitler and agreed that part of Czechoslovakia should go to Nazi Germany.
It was nearly 32 years ago that the British prime minister with the wing
collar, moustache and umbrella returned to England declaring that he had achieved
"peace with honor peace for our time. " You remember he stepped off a plane at
Heston Airdome outside of London and waved a "peace for our time" memorandum signed
by Adolf Hitler.
Neville Chamberlain's "peace for our time" lasted less than one year. It
culminated in a war which engulfed the world and resulted in 1,078,162 American
casualties, with 292,131 G.I. combat deaths and 115,185 American deaths due to
non-combat causes.
Chamberlain was well-intentioned. Yet all who cheered him when he waved
his memo from Hitler on Sept. 30, 1938 declared years later, "We should have
stopped Hitler at Munich."
There are curious parallels between 1938 and 1970. The pacifists and
neo-isolationists of 1970 are well-intentioned too.
I am not advocating revival of the cold war. I would be the last person
in the world to urge that. But to abandon principle in pursuit of peace is to
take the surest road to ultimate disaster.
I believe we should seek a detente with the Soviet Union. I strongly believe
in negotiation, but only in negotiation from a position of strength. We do not
have to scrap our principles to achieve a detente.
Whenever anyone today asks who have been the greatest men in the world in
the 20th century, one name leaps most quickly into the consciousness. The name is
that of Winston Churchill. His name stands for almost unbelievable heroism, the
bravery that carried England through the Battle of Britain with its plague of
buzz-bombs. It stands too for thrilling and unquenchable oratory that helped to
carry England through the most trying times in its glorious history.
When millions cheered Neville Chamberlain for bringing "peace for our time"
back from Munich, Churchill rose in the House of Commons and declared: "It is the
(more)
-5-
most grievous consequence which we have yet experienced, of what we have done, and
of what we have left undone in the last five years -- five years of futile good
intentions, five years of eager search for the line of least resistance.
Does any American today really believe that the line of least resistance
is the path to lasting peace?
Churchill called the appeasement of Hitler at Munich "a disaster of the
first magnitude. 11 Tragically, he proved an excellent prophet.
Let us not make the same mistake today we made in the 1930's. Let us not
tear down our national security by confusing military preparedness with the
causes of war.
Let us accpet the great challenge that confronts us -- the challenge of
maintaining our free institutions in the face of a Communist movement that threatens
to destroy those institutions.
The world is tough. It is power that counts. Yet many Americans today
believe that the path to peace is for America to allow its power to wane and to
invite the Soviet Union to emulate its example.
Today the great oceans are no longer seawalls behind which we can hide.
There is no time lag in warfare today giving America the kind of opportunity to
arm itself we enjoyed in 1941. We are constantly staring at the tip of a nuclear
missile -- and we had better not blink.
The Seventies will bring great decisions -- and a test of our survival.
Our defense establishment is being attacked by the well-intentioned. We
must be ever mindful of the words of President Nixon as set forth in his recent
Foreign Policy Report to the Nation: "Defense spending must never fall short of
the minimum needed for security. If it does, the problem of domestic programs
may become moot."
I subscribe to those words. I subscribe to the idea that maintaining
adequate and capable Armed Forces in this country is our best assurance of
maintaining the peace and preserving our precious heritage of freedom.
As regards the Navy, this means keeping the Fleet modern and up-to-date.
It means the orderly replacement of older ships. It means adapting the latest
technology to naval use and employing the wonderful new techniques science is
producing. And it means that we must make the best possible use of all the ships
at our command, including gallant little patrol gunboats like the Grand Rapids.
Today as we christen the Grand Rapids we should remember that it is not the
size of a vessel that counts but her capability of fulfilling her role. We know
(more)
-6-
that the Grand Rapids will measure up to her mission. And so we take pride in
this splendid little ship, a ship of a type which is older than our country
itself.
We take pride in the Grand Rapids and we salute her builders, the Tacoma
Boatbuilding Company, and the United States Navy. We take pride in knowing that
in today's complex world the U.S.S. Grand Rapids will be operating on the side
of freedom.
###

Document source description

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{
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"ocrText": "The original documents are located in Box D28, folder \"Christening of the \"U.S.S. Grand\nRapids\", Tacoma, WA, April 4, 1970\" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary\nand Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\nCopyright Notice\nThe copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of\nphotocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United\nStates of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.\nWorks prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public\ndomain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to\nremain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid\ncopyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\n[Photograph in Photo File]\nCHRISTENING OF THE GUNBOAT \"U.S.S. GRAND\nRAPIDS\" AT TACOMA, WASHINGTON,\n3 P.M., P.S.T., SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 1970.\nI AM HIGHLY HONORED AND MOST\nPLEASED TO BE HERE WITH YOU AT THE\nCHRISTENING OF THIS SPLENDID NEW GUNBOAT,\nTHE GRAND RAPIDS. I AM ESPECIALLY PLEASED\nTHAT MY DAUGHTER, SUSAN, WILL PERFORM THE\nTRADITIONAL CHORE OF BREAKING A BOTTLE OF\nCHAMPAGNE OVER THE BOW OF THE GRAND RAPIDS.\nWHEN THE NAVY SENT SUSAN THE\nINVITATION TO BE THE SPONSOR OF THE GRAND\nRAPIDS, I ASKED HER IF SHE HAD ANY\nQUESTIONS. \"JUST ONE,\" SHE SAID. \"HOW HARD\nDO I HAVE TO HIT THE BOAT IN ORDER TO KNOCK\nIT INTO THE WATER?\"\nIT IS SAID THAT A SHIP'S SPONSOR\nIMPARTS SOME OF HER PERSONALITY TO THE SHIP\nSHE CHRISTENS. IF THIS IS SO, THEN THE\nGERALD LIBRARY\nDigitized from Box D28 of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\n-2-\nGUNBOAT GRAND RAPIDS WILL BE A BUSY LITTLE\nVESSEL, NEVER LACKING IN ENERGY AND DRIVE.\nSHE WILL HAVE A WILL OF HER OWN, YET SHE\nWILL SHOW GREAT DEVOTION AND LOYALTY TO\nTHOSE WHO GUIDE HER THROUGH A SEA OF\nTROUBLES. ABOVE ALL, SHE WILL NEVER BE\nIDLE. AS FOR HER CAPTAIN, HE WILL HANDLE\nHER WITH GREAT CARE AND LOVE\nAS YOU MAY KNOW\nPATROL GUNBOATS\nARE NAMED FOR CITIES, ESPECIALLY CITIES\nWHOSE NAMES SUGGEST THE CHARACTERISTICS\nOF THE SHIP. IN THE CASE OF PG-98, THE\nNAME GRAND RAPIDS SUGGESTS SPEED -- AND\nTHAT IS ONE OF THE CHIEF CHARACTERISTICS\nOF THE VESSEL WE ARE CHRISTENING HERE TODAY.\nTHE GRAND RAPIDS HAS A DESIGNED\nSPEED IN EXCESS OF 35 KNOTS.\nTHE NAVY SAYS.\nON THE \"QT,\" ONE NAVAL OFFICER TOLD ME THE\nSPEED FOR OUR SHIP IS CONSIDERABLY IN\nEXCESS OF 35 KNOTS -- AND I AM READY TO TAKE\n-3-\nHIS WORD FOR IT\nCERTAINLY THE GRAND\nRAPIDS WILL HAVE THE SPEED AND ABILITY TO\nDO THE JOB FOR WHICH IT WAS BUILT -- TO\nINTERDICT AND DESTROY COASTAL SHIPPING IN\nSHALLOW OR RESTRICTED WATERS AND TO DEFEND\nSMALL CRAFT DURING AN AMPHIBIOUS OPERATION.\nWHEN THEN SECRETARY OF THE NAVY\nPAUL R. IGNATIUS DESIGNATED PG-98 AS THE\nGRAND RAPIDS I WAS MOST PLEASED. THAT WAS\nON JUNE 26, 1968. AND WHEN THE NAVY\nRECENTLY INFORMED ME OF MY AND MY DAUGHTER'S\nROLES IN THE CHRISTENING OF THE GRAND RAPIDS\nI FELT MOST HONORED -- NOT JUST FOR MYSELF\nAND SUSAN BUT FOR THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS,\nMY HOME TOWN.\nYOU MAY NOT KNOW THAT GRAND RAPIDS\nIS THE SECOND LARGEST CITY IN MICHIGAN WITH\nA POPULATION OF OVER 200,000. IT IS BEST\nthe\nKNOWN AS A FURNITURE TOWN, A CITY WHERE FINEST\nFURNITURE IS MADE AND MARKETED. LOCATED ON\n-4-\nTHE GRAND RIVER, IT IS ALSO AN IMPORTANT\nRAIL, WHOLESALE AND DISTRIBUTION CENTER FOR\nFRUIT GROWING AND DAIRYING, AS WELL AS\nAUTOMOTIVE AND OTHER INDUSTRIES. BEST OF\nALL, GRAND RAPIDS IS A TOWN WHERE FINE\nPEOPLE LIVE -- GRAND PEOPLE, IF YOU WILL.\nAND SO I FEEL THAT THE GUNBOAT WE CHRISTEN\nHERE TODAY IS GETTING A GRAND NAME\nPG-98 IS THE SECOND SHIP OF THE\nFLEET TO BE NAMED IN HONOR OF THE CITY OF\nGRAND RAPIDS.\nTHE FIRST U.S.S. GRAND RAPIDS WAS\nA PATROL FRIGATE. SHE WAS LAUNCHED\nSEPT. 10, 1943, BUT DID NOT COMPLETE HER\nSHAKEDOWN UNTIL DEC. 2, 1944. THE FIRST\nGRAND RAPIDS OPERATED AS A WEATHER PICKET\nSHIP FROM JAN. 6, 1945, UNTIL JAN. 15, 1946 --\nJUST A LITTLE OVER A YEAR. SHE WAS SCRAPPED\nSEPT. 21, 1947.\nI THINK THERE IS SOMETHING\n-5-\nSIGNIFICANT IN THE SCRAPPING OF THE FIRST\nGRAND RAPIDS -- SOMETHING MOST MEANINGFUL\nFOR US TODAY IN THE EXTREMELY BRIEF SERVICE\nOF THE PATROL FRIGATE GRAND RAPIDS.\nIT SPEAKS TO US OF THE FRANTIC\nRUSH TO DISARM THIS COUNTRY AFTER WORLD WAR\nII -- THE SAME IRRATIONAL TEARING DOWN OF\nOUR DEFENSES THAT OCCURRED AFTER WORLD\nWorl War II\nWAR AND MOST RECENTLY AFTER THE KOREAN\nWAR. AND I TELL YOU THAT THIS SAME MADNESS --\nI DELIBERATELY AND PURPOSELY CALL IT THAT --\nTHIS SAME MADNESS IS APPEARING IN MANY\nQUARTERS IN AMERICA TODAY.\nI UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING TO\nOUR GREAT COUNTRY AS WE ENTER THE DECADE\nOF THE 70'S. WE ARE EXPERIENCING A\nREVULSION AGAINST THE VIETNAM WAR AND\nAGAINST ALL WARS. THIS REVULSION IS\nTRANSLATED INTO ABHORRENCE NOT ONLY OF WAR\nBUT OF ALL THINGS MILITARY AND OF ALL\n-6-\nDEFENSE-ORIENTED INDUSTRY. IT HAS LED TO\nATTACKS AGAINST THE DEFENSE ESTABLISHMENT,\nOUR MEN IN UNIFORM, AND WHAT IS GENERALLY\nLUMPED TOGETHER AS \"THE MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL\nCOMPLEX.\"\nIT HAS PRODUCED A CONCERTED\nCAMPAIGN TO SLASH THE DEFENSE BUDGET\nWITHOUT ANY CONSIDERATION FOR WHAT THIS\nCOUNTRY MUST POSSESS IN THE WAY OF ARMAMENTS\nTO GUARANTEE ITS NATIONAL SECURITY AND TO\nMAINTAIN SOME DEGREE OF PEACE IN THE WORLD.\nIN 1945 GENERAL GEORGE C.\nMARSHALL SAID:\n\"WE FINISH EACH BLOODY WAR WITH\nA FEELING OF ACUTE REVULSION AGAINST THE\nSAVAGE FORM OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR. AND YET ON\nEACH OCCASION WE CONFUSE MILITARY\nPREPAREDNESS WITH THE CAUSES OF WAR AND THEN\nDRIFT ALMOST DELIBERATELY INTO ANOTHER\nCATASTROPHE.\"\n-7-\nIT IS MOST IRONIC THAT MANY OF\nTHOSE WHO TODAY ARE ATTACKING WHAT THEY\nCALL THE MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX WERE\nAMONG THE MOST ZEALOUS SUPPORTERS OF THE\nLATE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY.\nI WOULD LIKE TO REMIND THEM THAT\nIN JANUARY OF 1961 PRESIDENT KENNEDY SAID\nIN HIS INAUGURAL ADDRESS:\n\"\"WE DARE NOT TEMPT THEM WITH\nWEAKNESS. FOR ONLY WHEN OUR ARMS ARE\nSUFFICIENT BEYOND DOUBT CAN WE BE CERTAIN\nBEYOND DOUBT THAT THEY WILL NEVER BE\nEMPLOYED.\nI SUBMIT THAT THOSE WHO LOOK AT\nTHE BARE-BONES DEFENSE BUDGETS OF THE\nPRESENT ADMINISTRATION AND SHOUT THAT WE CAN\nCUT MILITARY SPENDING BY $10 OR $20 BILLION\nMORE ARE OPERATING IN A FOG -- A MENTAL FOG\nGENERATED BY PIOUS HOPES THAT OTHERS OF US\nBELIEVE CAN NEVER BE REALIZED.\n-8-\nOF COURSE THE ANTI-MILITARISTS\nAND THE NEO-ISOLATIONISTS OF TODAY INSIST\nTHAT THERE IS NO COMPARISON BETWEEN THEM AND\nTHE PACIFISTS AND ISOLATIONISTS OF THE\n1930'S. BUT THINK THE PARALLELS ARE\nUNMISTAKABLE.\nMANY OF YOU REMEMBER THE 1930'S.\nREMEMBER WHEN HITLER WROTE HIS BOOK, \"MEIN\nKAMPF?\" FEW PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY TOOK\nHIM SERIOUSLY\nthe Vinited States in the 1920s+305\nWE HAD ENGAGED IN UNILATERAL\nDISARMAMENT. WE WERE LIVING IN A DREAM\nWORLD. WE SAID WAR JUST COULDN'T HAPPEN.\nAND IF IT DID HAPPEN TO SOMEBODY ELSE WE\nWOULD NOT BECOME INVOLVED. THE MENTALITY\nOF THE ENTIRE COUNTRY WAS ATTUNED TO WHAT\nBECAME KNOWN AS THE \"FORTRESS AMERICA\"\nCONCEPT.\nI AM NOT BEING PARTISAN. IT WAS\nA REPUBLICAN, SEN. GERALD P. NYE OF NORTH\n-9-\nDAKOTA, WHO LED THE FORTRESS AMERICA FORCES\nIN THE 30'S. BUT IT IS ONLY FAIR TO POINT\nOUT THAT THE ISOLATIONISM BEING PREACHED\nTODAY BY CERTAIN LEADING DEMOCRATS IN THE\nSENATE IS STRONGLY REMINISCENT OF SEN.\nNYE'S.\nNYE BLAMED WAR ON THE INTERNATIONAL\nBANKERS AND THE ARMS MANUFACTURERS. Today the\nwillains are The melitary of our undustralests who gave no the leaders to defeat Hiller &\nTODAY WE SEE MILITANT YOUTHS the weapons\nBURNING DOWN OR DAMAGING BANK BUILDINGS, to destroy Nazis The\nLOOTING THE FILES OF A NAPALM MANUFACTURER,\nAND PREVENTING COLLEGE CAMPUS APPEARANCES\nBY RECRUITERS FOR DEFENSE INDUSTRIES.\nTHERE WERE PROTESTS IN THE 30'S\nAGAINST COMPULSORY MILITARY TRAINING, AND\nSO A NUMBER OF LAND GRANT COLLEGES MADE\nMILITARY DRILL OPTIONAL. TODAY WE FIND\nSTUDENTS FORCING COLLEGE ADMINISTRATIONS\nTO DROP ROTC FROM THE CURRICULUM. AND\nTODAY, TOO, WE HAVE DRAFT CARD BURNING AND\n-10-\nTHE POURING OF BLOOD ON DRAFT CARD FILES.\nAS A RESULT OF ANTI WAR HEARINGS IN\nTHE EARLY 30%S BY A COMMITTEE SEN. NYE HEADED,\nTHE CONGRESS IN 1935 APPROVED WHAT BECAME KNOWN\nAS THE NEUTRALITY ACT. THAT LEGISLATION WAS\nSIMILAR TO A RECENTLY-ENACTED SENATE RESOLUTION\nLIMITING THE USE OF U.S. GROUND TROOPS IN LAOS.\nTHE ADMINISTRATION HAS NO INTENTION OF USING\nGROUND TROOPS IN LAOS, BUT SEN. FULBRIGHT\nPUSHED FOR THE RESOLUTION JUST THE SAME.\nIN THE 30%S HITLER BUILT A TREMENDOUS\nWAR MACHINE, JUST AS THE SOVIET UNION TODAY IS\nAMASSING THE MOST HORRIBLE AND THREATENING\nARRAY OF ARMAMENTS.\nIN THE 30'S AMERICA SLEPT. AND SO\nDID ENGLAND. THOSE OF YOU OF MY GENERATION\nREMEMBER A GAUNT-LOOKING BRITISHER WHO\nJOURNEYED TO MUNICH TO MEET WITH ADOLF HITLER\nAND AGREED THAT PART OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA SHOULD\nGO TO NAZI GERMANY.\nIT WAS NEARLY 32 YEARS AGO THAT\n-11-\nTHE BRITISH PRIME MINISTER WITH THE WING\nCOLLAR / MOUSTACHE AND UMBRELLA RETURNED TO\nENGLAND DECLARING THAT HE HAD ACHIEVED \"PEACE\nWITH HONOR PEACE FOR OUR TIME.\" YOU\nREMEMBER HE STEPPED OFF A PLANE AT HESTON\nAIRDOME OUTSIDE OF LONDON AND WAVED A \"PEACE\nFOR OUR TIME\" MEMORANDUM SIGNED BY ADOLF HITLER.\nNEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN'S \"PEACE FOR OUR\nTIME\" LASTED LESS THAN ONE YEAR. IT CULMINATED\nIN A WAR WHICH ENGULFED THE WORLD AND RESULTED\nIN 1,078,182 AMERICAN CASUALTIES, WITH\n292,131 G.I. COMBAT DEATHS AND 115,185\nAMERICAN DEATHS DUE TO NON-COMBAT CAUSES.\nCHAMBERLAIN WAS WELL-INTENTIONED.\nYET ALL WHO CHEERED HIM WHEN HE WAVED HIS\nMEMO FROM HITLER ON SEPT. 30, 1938 DECLARED\nYEARS LATER, \"WE SHOULD HAVE STOPPED HITLER\nAT MUNICH.\"\nTHERE ARE CURIOUS PARALLELS\nBETWEEN 1938 AND 1970. THE PACIFISTS\n-12-\nAND NEO-ISOLATIONISTS OF 1970 ARE\nWELL-INTENTIONED TOO.\nI AM NOT ADVOCATING REVIVAL OF THE\nCOLD WAR. IT WOULD BE THE LAST PERSON IN\nTHE WORLD TO URGE THAT BUT TO ABANDON\nPRINCIPLE IN PURSUIT OF PEACE IS TO TAKE\nTHE SUREST ROAD TO ULTIMATE DISASTER.\nDELIEVE WE SHOULD SEEK A DETENTE\nWITH THE SOVIET UNION. I STRONGLY BELIEVE\nIN NEGOTIATION, BUT ONLY IN NEGOTIATION\nFROM A POSITION OF STRENGTH. WE DO NOT\nHAVE TO SCRAP OUR PRINCIPLES TO ACHIEVE A\nDETENTE.\nWHENEVER ANYONE TODAY ASKS WHO\nHAVE BEEN THE GREATEST MEN IN THE WORLD IN\nTHE 20TH CENTURY, ONE NAME LEAPS MOST\nQUICKLY INTO THE CONSCIOUSNESS. THE NAME\n[IS THAT OF] WINSTON CHURCHILL. HIS NAME\nSTANDS FOR ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE HEROISM, THE\nBRAVERY THAT CARRIED ENGLAND THROUGH THE\n-13-\nBATTLE OF BRITAIN WITH ITS PLAGUE OF\nBUZZ-BOMBS. IT STANDS TOO FOR THRILLING AND\nUNQUENCHABLE ORATORY THAT HELPED TO CARRY\nENGLAND THROUGH THE MOST TRYING TIMES IN\nITS GLORIOUS HISTORY.\nWHEN MILLIONS CHEERED NEVILLE\nCHAMBERLAIN FOR BRINGING \"PEACE FOR OUR\nTIME\" BACK FROM MUNICH, CHURCHILL ROSE IN\nTHE HOUSE OF COMMONS AND DECLARED: \"IT IS\nTHE MOST GRIEVOUS CONSEQUENCE WHICH WE HAVE\nYET EXPERIENCED, OF WHAT WE HAVE DONE, AND\nOF WHAT WE HAVE LEFT UNDONE IN THE LAST\nFIVE YEARS -- FIVE YEARS OF FUTILE GOOD\nINTENTIONS, FIVE YEARS OF EAGER SEARCH FOR\nTHE LINE OF LEAST RESISTANCE.\"\nDOES ANY AMERICAN TODAY REALLY\nBELIEVE THAT THE LINE OF LEAST RESISTANCE\nIS THE PATH OF LASTING PEACE?\nCHURCHILL CALLED THE APPEASEMENT\nOF HITLER AT MUNICH \"A DISASTER OF THE\n-14-\nFIRST MAGNITUDE.\" TRAGICALLY, HE PROVED\nAN EXCELLENT PROPHET.\nLET US NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE\nTODAY WE MADE IN THE 1930'S. LET US NOT\nTEAR DOWN OUR NATIONAL SECURITY BY CONFUSING\nMILITARY PREPAREDNESS WITH THE CAUSES OF\nWAR.\nLET US ACCEPT THE GREAT CHALLENGE\nTHAT CONFRONTS US -- THE CHALLENGE OF\nMAINTAINING OUR FREE INSTITUTIONS IN THE\nFACE OF A COMMUNIST MOVEMENT THAT THREATENS\nTO DESTROY THOSE INSTITUTIONS.\nTHE WORLD IS TOUGH. IT IS POWER\nTHAT COUNTS. YET MANY AMERICANS TODAY\nBELIEVE THAT THE PATH TO PEACE IS FOR AMERICA\nTO ALLOW ITS POWER TO WANE AND TO INVITE (with hope)\nthat\nTHE SOVIET UNION TO EMULATE ITS EXAMPLE.\nTODAY THE GREAT OCEANS ARE NO LONGER\nSEAWALLS BEHIND WHICH WE CAN HIDE. THERE IS\nNO TIME LAG IN WARFARE TODAY GIVING AMERICA\n-15-\nTHE KIND OF OPPORTUNITY TO ARM ITSELF WE\nENJOYED IN 1941. WE ARE CONSTANTLY STARING\nAT THE TIP OF A NUCLEAR MISSILE -- AND WE\nbetter be constantly alent\nHAD BETTER NOT BLINK.\nTHE SEVENTIES WILL BRING GREAT\nDECISIONS -- AND A TEST OF OUR SURVIVAL.\nOUR DEFENSE ESTABLISHMENT IS\nBEING ATTACKED BY THE WELL-INTENTIONED.\nHowever\nWE MUST BE EVER MINDFUL OF THE WORDS OF\nPRESIDENT NIXON AS SET FORTH IN HIS RECENT\nFOREIGN POLICY REPORT TO THE NATION:\n\"DEFENSE SPENDING MUST NEVER FALL SHORT OF\nTHE MINIMUM NEEDED FOR SECURITY. IF IT\nDOES, THE PROBLEM OF DOMESTIC PROGRAMS MAY\nBECOME MOOT.\"\nI\nSUBSCRIBE TO THOSE WORDS.\nI\nSUBSCRIBE TO THE IDEA THAT MAINTAINING\nADEQUATE AND CAPABLE ARMED FORCES IN THIS\nCOUNTRY IS OUR BEST ASSURANCE OF MAINTAINING\nTHE PEACE AND PRESERVING OUR PRECIOUS\n-16-\nHERITAGE OF FREEDOM.\nAS REGARDS THE NAVY, THIS MEANS\nKEEPING THE FLEET MODERN AND UP-TO-DATE.\nIT MEANS THE ORDERLY REPLACEMENT OF OLDER\nSHIPS. IT MEANS ADAPTING THE LATEST\nTECHNOLOGY TO NAVAL USE AND EMPLOYING THE\nWONDERFUL NEW TECHNIQUES SCIENCE IS\nPRODUCING. AND IT MEANS THAT WE MUST MAKE\nTHE BEST POSSIBLE USE OF ALL THE SHIPS AT\nOUR COMMAND, INCLUDING GALLANT\nPATROL GUNBOATS LIKE THE GRAND RAPIDS.\nTODAY AS WE CHRISTEN THE GRAND\nRAPIDS WE SHOULD REMEMBER THAT IT IS NOT\nTHE SIZE OF A VESSEL THAT COUNTS BUT HER\nCAPABILITY OF FULFILLING HER ROLE. WE KNOW\nTHAT THE GRAND RAPIDS WILL MEASURE UP TO\nHER MISSION. AND SO WE TAKE PRIDE IN THIS\nSPLENDID LITTLE SHIP LA SHIP OF A TYPE\nWHICH IS OLDER THAN OUR COUNTRY ITSELF\nWE TAKE PRIDE IN THE GRAND RAPIDS\n-17-\nAND WE SALUTE HER BUILDERS, THE TACOMA\nBOATBUILDING COMPANY, AND THE UNITED STATES\nNAVY. WE TAKE PRIDE IN KNOWING THAT IN\nTODAY'S COMPLEX WORLD THE U.S.S. GRAND\nRAPIDS WILL BE OPERATING ON THE SIDE OF\nFREEDOM.\nEND : :\nDistribution 10 copies Mr. Ford only\nOffice Copy\nAN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.\nREPUBLICAN LEADER OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES\nAT THE CHRISTENING OF THE GUNBOAT \"U.S.S. GRAND RAPIDS\"\nAT TACOMA, WASHINGTON\nAT 3 P.M., P.S.T., APRIL 4, 1970\nFOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY EXPECTED AT 3 P.M., P.S.T.\nI am highly honored and most pleased to be here with you at the christening\nof this splendid new gunboat, the Grand Rapids. I am especially pleased that my\ndaughter, Susan, will perform the traditional chore of breaking a bottle of\nchampagne over the bow of the Grand Rapids.\nWhen the Navy sent Susan the invitation to be the sponsor of the Grand\nRapids, I asked her if she had any questions. \"Just one,\" she said. \"How hard\ndo I have to hit the boat in order to knock it into the water?\"\nIt is said that a ship's sponsor imparts some of her personality to the ship\nshe christens. If this is so, then the gunboat Grand Rapids will be a busy little\nvessel, never lacking in energy and drive. She will have a will of her own, yet\nshe will show great devotion and loyalty to those who guide her through a sea of\ntroubles. Above all, she will never be idle. As for her captain, he will handle\nher with great care and love.\nAs you may know, patrol gunboats are named for cities, especially cities\nwhose names suggest the characteristics of the ship. In the case of PG-98, the\nname Grand Rapids suggests speed and that is one of the chief characteristics\nof the vessel we are christening here today.\nThe Grand Rapids has a designed speed in excess of 35 knots, the Navy says.\nOn the \"QT,\" one naval officer told me the speed for our ship is considerably in\nexcess of 35 knots and I am ready to take his word for it. Certainly the\nGrand Rapids will have the speed and ability to do the job for which it was built --\nto interdict and destroy coastal shipping in shallow or restricted waters and to\ndefend small craft during an amphibious operation.\nWhen then Secretary of the Navy Paul R. Ignatius designated PG-98 as the\nGrand Rapids I was most pleased. That was on June 26, 1968. And when the Navy\nrecently informed me of my and my daughter's roles in the christening of the Grand\nRapids I felt most honored not just for myself and Susan but for the City of\nGrand Rapids, my home town.\n(more)\nGERALD LIBRANY FORD\n-2-\nYou may not know that Grand Rapids is the second largest city in Michigan\nwith a population of over 200,000. It is best known as a furniture town, a city\nwhere fine furniture is made and marketed. Located on the Grand River, it is also\nan important rail, wholesale and distribution center for fruit growing and\ndairying, as well as automotive and other industries. Best of all, Grand Rapids\nis a town where fine people live -- grand people, if you will. And so I feel that\nthe gunboat we christen here today is getting a grand name.\nPG-98 is the second ship of the fleet to be named in honor of the City of\nGrand Rapids.\nThe first U.S.S. Grand Rapids was a patrol frigate. She was launched\nSept. 10, 1943, but did not complete her shakedown until Dec. 2, 1944. The first\nGrand Rapids operated as a weather picket ship from Jan. 6, 1945, until Jan. 15,\n1946 -- just a little over a year. She was scrapped Sept. 21, 1947.\nI think there is something significant in the scrapping of the first\nGrand Rapids -- something most meaningful for us today in the extremely brief\nservice of the patrol frigate Grand Rapids.\nIt speaks to us of the frantic rush to disarm this country after World\nWar II -- the same irrational tearing down of our defenses that occurred after\nWorld War I and most recently after the Korean War. And I tell you that this same\nmadness -- I deliberately and purposely call it that -- this same madness is\nappearing in many quarters in America today.\nI understand what is happening to our great country as we enter the decade\nof the 70's. We are experiencing a revulsion against the Vietnam War and against\nall wars. This revulsion is translated into abhorrence not only of war but of all\nthings military and of all defense-oriented industry. It has led to attacks against\nthe Defense Establishment, our men in uniform, and what is generally lumped\ntogether as \"the military-industrial complex.'\nIt has produced a concerted campaign to slash the defense budget without\nany consideration for what this country must possess in the way of armaments to\nguarantee its national security and to maintain some degree of peace in the world.\nIn 1945 General George C. Marshall said:\n\"We finish each bloody war with a feeling of acute revulsion against the\nsavage form of human behavior. And yet on each occasion we confuse military\npreparedness with the causes of war and then drift almost deliberately into another\ncatastrophe.\n\"\n(more)\n-3-\nIt is most ironic that many of those who today are attacking what they call\nthe military-industrial complex were among the most zealous supporters of the late\nPresident John F. Kennedy.\nI would like to remind them that in January of 1961 President Kennedy said\nin his inaugural address:\n\"We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient\nbeyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.\"\nI submit that those who look at the bare-bones defense budgets of the\npresent Administration and shout that we can cut military spending by $10 or\n$20 billion more are operating in a fog -- a mental fog generated by pious hopes\nthat others of us believe can never be realized.\nOf course the anti-militarists and the neo-isolationists of today insist\nthat there is no comparison between them and the pacifists and isolationists of\nthe 1930's. But I think the parallels are unmistakable.\nMany of you remember the 1930's. Remember when Hitler wrote his book,\n\"Mein Kampf?\" Few people in this country took him seriously.\nWe had engaged in unilateral disarmament. We were living in a dream world.\nWe said war just couldn't happen. And if it did happen to somebody else we would\nnot become involved. The mentality of the entire country was attuned to what\nbecame known as the \"Fortress America\" concept.\nI am not being partisan. It was a Republican, Sen. Gerald P. Nye of North\nDakota, who led the Fortress America forces in the 30's. But it is only fair to\npoint out that the isolationism being preached today by certain leading Democrats\nin the Senate is strongly reminiscent of Sen. Nye's.\nNye blamed war on the international bankers and the arms manufacturers.\nToday we see militant youths burning down or damaging bank buildings, looting\nthe files of a napalm manufacturer, and preventing college campus appearances by\nrecruiters for defense industries.\nThere were protests in the 30's against compulsory military training, and\nso a number of land grant colleges made military drill optional. Today we find\nstudents forcing college administrations to drop ROTC from the curriculum. And\ntoday, too, we have draft card burning and the pouring of blood on draft card files.\nAs a result of antiwar hearings in the early 30's by a committee Sen. Nye\nheaded, the Congress in 1935 approved what became known as the Neutrality Act.\nThat legislation was similar to a recently-enacted Senate resolution limiting the\n(more)\n-4--\nuse of U.S. ground troops in Laos. The Administration has no intention of using\nground troops in Laos, but Sen. Fulbright pushed for the resolution just the same.\nIn the 30's Hitler built a tremendous war machine, just as the Soviet Union\ntoday is amassing the most horrible and threatening array of armaments.\nIn the 30's America slept. And so did England. Those of you of my\ngeneration remember a gaunt-looking Britisher who journeyed to Munich to meet with\nAdolf Hitler and agreed that part of Czechoslovakia should go to Nazi Germany.\nIt was nearly 32 years ago that the British prime minister with the wing\ncollar, moustache and umbrella returned to England declaring that he had achieved\n\"peace with honor\npeace\nfor\nour\ntime.\"\nYou\nremember\nhe\nstepped\noff\na\nplane\nat\nHeston Airdome outside of London and waved a \"peace for our time\" memorandum signed\nby Adolf Hitler.\nNeville Chamberlain's \"peace for our time\" lasted less than one year. It\nculminated in a war which engulfed the world and resulted in 1,078,162 American\ncasualties, with 292,131 G.I. combat deaths and 115,185 American deaths due to\nnon-combat causes.\nChamberlain was well-intentioned. Yet all who cheered him when he waved\nhis memo from Hitler on Sept. 30, 1938 declared years later, \"We should have\nstopped Hitler at Munich. \"\nThere are curious parallels between 1938 and 1970. The pacifists and\nneo-isolationists of 1970 are well-intentioned too.\nI am not advocating revival of the cold war. I would be the last person\nin the world to urge that. But to abandon principle in pursuit of peace is to\ntake the surest road to ultimate disaster.\nI believe we should seek a detente with the Soviet Union. I strongly believe\nin negotiation, but only in negotiation from a position of strength. We do not\nhave to scrap our principles to achieve a detente.\nWhenever anyone today asks who have been the greatest men in the world in\nthe 20th century, one name leaps most quickly into the consciousness. The name is\nthat of Winston Churchill. His name stands for almost unbelievable heroism, the\nbravery that carried England through the Battle of Britain with its plague of\nbuzz-bombs. It stands too for thrilling and unquenchable oratory that helped to\ncarry England through the most trying times in its glorious history.\nWhen millions cheered Neville Chamberlain for bringing \"peace for our time\"\nback from Munich, Churchill rose in the House of Commons and declared: \"It is the\n(more)\n-5-\nmost grievous consequence which we have yet experienced, of what we have done, and\nof what we have left undone in the last five years -- five years of futile good\nintentions, five years of eager search for the line of least resistance.'\nDoes any American today really believe that the line of least resistance\nis the path to lasting peace?\nChurchill called the appeasement of Hitler at Munich \"a disaster of the\nfirst magnitude.' Tragically, he proved an excellent prophet.\nLet us not make the same mistake today we made in the 1930's. Let us not\ntear down our national security by confusing military preparedness with the\ncauses of war.\nLet us accpet the great challenge that confronts us -- the challenge of\nmaintaining our free institutions in the face of a Communist movement that threatens\nto destroy those institutions.\nThe world is tough. It is power that counts. Yet many Americans today\nbelieve that the path to peace is for America to allow its power to wane and to\ninvite the Soviet Union to emulate its example.\nToday the great oceans are no longer seawalls behind which we can hide.\nThere is no time lag in warfare today giving America the kind of opportunity to\narm itself we enjoyed in 1941. We are constantly staring at the tip of a nuclear\nmissile -- and we had better not blink.\nThe Seventies will bring great decisions -- and a test of our survival.\nOur defense establishment is being attacked by the well-intentioned. We\nmust be ever mindful of the words of President Nixon as set forth in his recent\nForeign Policy Report to the Nation: \"Defense spending must never fall short of\nthe minimum needed for security. If it does, the problem of domestic programs\nmay become moot.\"\nI subscribe to those words. I subscribe to the idea that maintaining\nadequate and capable Armed Forces in this country is our best assurance of\nmaintaining the peace and preserving our precious heritage of freedom.\nAs regards the Navy, this means keeping the Fleet modern and up-to-date.\nIt means the orderly replacement of older ships. It means adapting the latest\ntechnology to naval use and employing the wonderful new techniques science is\nproducing. And it means that we must make the best possible use of all the ships\nat our command, including gallant little patrol gunboats like the Grand Rapids.\nToday as we christen the Grand Rapids we should remember that it is not the\nsize of a vessel that counts but her capability of fulfilling her role. We know\n(more)\n-6-\nthat the Grand Rapids will measure up to her mission. And so we take pride in\nthis splendid little ship, a ship of a type which is older than our country\nitself.\nWe take pride in the Grand Rapids and we salute her builders, the Tacoma\nBoatbuilding Company, and the United States Navy. We take pride in knowing that\nin today's complex world the U.S.S. Grand Rapids will be operating on the side\nof freedom.\n###\nAN ADDRESS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH.\nREPUBLICAN LEADER OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES\nAT THE CHRISTENING OF THE GUNBOAT \"U.S.S. GRAND RAPIDS\"\nAT TACOMA, WASHINGTON\nAT 3 P.M., P.S.T., APRIL 4, 1970\nFOR RELEASE ON DELIVERY EXPECTED AT 3 P.M., P.S.T.\nI am highly honored and most pleased to be here with you at the christening\nof this splendid new gunboat, the Grand Rapids. I am especially pleased that my\ndaughter, Susan, will perform the traditional chore of breaking a bottle of\nchampagne over the bow of the Grand Rapids.\nWhen the Navy sent Susan the invitation to be the sponsor of the Grand\nRapids, I asked her if she had any questions. \"Just one,\" she said. \"How hard\ndo I have to hit the boat in order to knock it into the water?\"\nIt is said that a ship's sponsor imparts some of her personality to the ship\nshe christens. If this is so, then the gunboat Grand Rapids will be a busy little\nvessel, never lacking in energy and drive. She will have a will of her own, yet\nshe will show great devotion and loyalty to those who guide her through a sea of\ntroubles. Above all, she will never be idle. As for her captain, he will handle\nher with great care and love.\nAs you may know, patrol gunboats are named for cities, especially cities\nwhose names suggest the characteristics of the ship. In the case of PG-98, the\nname Grand Rapids suggests speed -- and that is one of the chief characteristics\nof the vessel we are christening here today.\nThe Grand Rapids has a designed speed in excess of 35 knots, the Navy says.\nOn the \"QT,\" one naval officer told me the speed for our ship is considerably in\nexcess of 35 knots -- and I am ready to take his word for it. Certainly the\nGrand Rapids will have the speed and ability to do the job for which it was built --\nto interdict and destroy coastal shipping in shallow or restricted waters and to\ndefend small craft during an amphibious operation.\nWhen then Secretary of the Navy Paul R. Ignatius designated PG-98 as the\nGrand Rapids I was most pleased. That was on June 26, 1968. And when the Navy\nrecently informed me of my and my daughter's roles in the christening of the Grand\nRapids I felt most honored -- not just for myself and Susan but for the City of\nGrand Rapids, my home town.\n(more)\n-2-\nYou may not know that Grand Rapids is the second largest city in Michigan\nwith a population of over 200,000. It is best known as a furniture town, a city\nwhere fine furniture is made and marketed. Located on the Grand River, it is also\nan important rail, wholesale and distribution center for fruit growing and\ndairying, as well as automotive and other industries. Best of all, Grand Rapids\nis a town where fine people live -- grand people, if you will. And so I feel that\nthe gunboat we christen here today is getting a grand name.\nPG-98 is the second ship of the fleet to be named in honor of the City of\nGrand Rapids.\nThe first U.S.S. Grand Rapids was a patrol frigate. She was launched\nSept. 10, 1943, but did not complete her shakedown until Dec. 2, 1944. The first\nGrand Rapids operated as a weather picket ship from Jan. 6, 1945, until Jan. 15,\n1946 -- just a little over a year. She was scrapped Sept. 21, 1947.\nI think there is something significant in the scrapping of the first\nGrand Rapids -- something most meaningful for us today in the extremely brief\nservice of the patrol frigate Grand Rapids.\nIt speaks to us of the frantic rush to disarm this country after World\nWar II -- the same irrational tearing down of our defenses that occurred after\nWorld War I and most recently after the Korean War. And I tell you that this same\nmadness -- I deliberately and purposely call it that -- this same madness is\nappearing in many quarters in America today.\nI understand what is happening to our great country as we enter the decade\nof the 70's. We are experiencing a revulsion against the Vietnam War and against\nall wars. This revulsion is translated into abhorrence not only of war but of all\nthings military and of all defense-oriented industry. It has led to attacks against\nthe Defense Establishment, our men in uniform, and what is generally lumped\ntogether as \"the military-industrial complex.'\nIt has produced a concerted campaign to slash the defense budget without\nany consideration for what this country must possess in the way of armaments to\nguarantee its national security and to maintain some degree of peace in the world.\nIn 1945 General George C. Marshall said:\n\"We finish each bloody war with a feeling of acute revulsion against the\nsavage form of human behavior. And yet on each occasion we confuse military\npreparedness with the causes of war and then drift almost deliberately into another\ncatastrophe.\"\n(more)\n-3-\nIt is most ironic that many of those who today are attacking what they call\nthe military-industrial complex were among the most zealous supporters of the late\nPresident John F. Kennedy.\nI would like to remind them that in January of 1961 President Kennedy said\nin his inaugural address:\n\"We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient\nbeyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.\"\nI submit that those who look at the bare-bones defense budgets of the\npresent Administration and shout that we can cut military spending by $10 or\n$20 billion more are operating in a fog -- a mental fog generated by pious hopes\nthat others of us believe can never be realized.\nOf course the anti-militarists and the neo-isolationists of today insist\nthat there is no comparison between them and the pacifists and isolationists of\nthe 1930's. But I think the parallels are unmistakable.\nMany of you remember the 1930's. Remember when Hitler wrote his book,\n\"Mein Kampf?\" Few people in this country took him seriously.\nWe had engaged in unilateral disarmament. We were living in a dream world.\nWe said war just couldn't happen. And if it did happen to somebody else we would\nnot become involved. The mentality of the entire country was attuned to what\nbecame known as the \"Fortress America\" concept.\nI am not being partisan. It was a Republican, Sen. Gerald P. Nye of North\nDakota, who led the Fortress America forces in the 30's. But it is only fair to\npoint out that the isolationism being preached today by certain leading Democrats\nin the Senate is strongly reminiscent of Sen. Nye's.\nNye blamed war on the international bankers and the arms manufacturers.\nToday we see militant youths burning down or damaging bank buildings, looting\nthe files of a napalm manufacturer, and preventing college campus appearances by\nrecruiters for defense industries.\nThere were protests in the 30's against compulsory military training, and\nso a number of land grant colleges made military drill optional. Today we find\nstudents forcing college administrations to drop ROTC from the curriculum. And\ntoday, too, we have draft card burning and the pouring of blood on draft card files.\nAs a result of antiwar hearings in the early 30's by a committee Sen. Nye\nheaded, the Congress in 1935 approved what became known as the Neutrality Act.\nThat legislation was similar to a recently-enacted Senate resolution limiting the\n(more)\n-4--\nuse of U.S. ground troops in Laos. The Administration has no intention of using\nground troops in Laos, but Sen. Fulbright pushed for the resolution just the same.\nIn the 30's Hitler built a tremendous war machine, just as the Soviet Union\ntoday is amassing the most horrible and threatening array of armaments.\nIn the 30's America slept. And so did England. Those of you of my\ngeneration remember a gaunt-looking Britisher who journeyed to Munich to meet with\nAdolf Hitler and agreed that part of Czechoslovakia should go to Nazi Germany.\nIt was nearly 32 years ago that the British prime minister with the wing\ncollar, moustache and umbrella returned to England declaring that he had achieved\n\"peace with honor peace for our time. \" You remember he stepped off a plane at\nHeston Airdome outside of London and waved a \"peace for our time\" memorandum signed\nby Adolf Hitler.\nNeville Chamberlain's \"peace for our time\" lasted less than one year. It\nculminated in a war which engulfed the world and resulted in 1,078,162 American\ncasualties, with 292,131 G.I. combat deaths and 115,185 American deaths due to\nnon-combat causes.\nChamberlain was well-intentioned. Yet all who cheered him when he waved\nhis memo from Hitler on Sept. 30, 1938 declared years later, \"We should have\nstopped Hitler at Munich.\"\nThere are curious parallels between 1938 and 1970. The pacifists and\nneo-isolationists of 1970 are well-intentioned too.\nI am not advocating revival of the cold war. I would be the last person\nin the world to urge that. But to abandon principle in pursuit of peace is to\ntake the surest road to ultimate disaster.\nI believe we should seek a detente with the Soviet Union. I strongly believe\nin negotiation, but only in negotiation from a position of strength. We do not\nhave to scrap our principles to achieve a detente.\nWhenever anyone today asks who have been the greatest men in the world in\nthe 20th century, one name leaps most quickly into the consciousness. The name is\nthat of Winston Churchill. His name stands for almost unbelievable heroism, the\nbravery that carried England through the Battle of Britain with its plague of\nbuzz-bombs. It stands too for thrilling and unquenchable oratory that helped to\ncarry England through the most trying times in its glorious history.\nWhen millions cheered Neville Chamberlain for bringing \"peace for our time\"\nback from Munich, Churchill rose in the House of Commons and declared: \"It is the\n(more)\n-5-\nmost grievous consequence which we have yet experienced, of what we have done, and\nof what we have left undone in the last five years -- five years of futile good\nintentions, five years of eager search for the line of least resistance.\nDoes any American today really believe that the line of least resistance\nis the path to lasting peace?\nChurchill called the appeasement of Hitler at Munich \"a disaster of the\nfirst magnitude. 11 Tragically, he proved an excellent prophet.\nLet us not make the same mistake today we made in the 1930's. Let us not\ntear down our national security by confusing military preparedness with the\ncauses of war.\nLet us accpet the great challenge that confronts us -- the challenge of\nmaintaining our free institutions in the face of a Communist movement that threatens\nto destroy those institutions.\nThe world is tough. It is power that counts. Yet many Americans today\nbelieve that the path to peace is for America to allow its power to wane and to\ninvite the Soviet Union to emulate its example.\nToday the great oceans are no longer seawalls behind which we can hide.\nThere is no time lag in warfare today giving America the kind of opportunity to\narm itself we enjoyed in 1941. We are constantly staring at the tip of a nuclear\nmissile -- and we had better not blink.\nThe Seventies will bring great decisions -- and a test of our survival.\nOur defense establishment is being attacked by the well-intentioned. We\nmust be ever mindful of the words of President Nixon as set forth in his recent\nForeign Policy Report to the Nation: \"Defense spending must never fall short of\nthe minimum needed for security. If it does, the problem of domestic programs\nmay become moot.\"\nI subscribe to those words. I subscribe to the idea that maintaining\nadequate and capable Armed Forces in this country is our best assurance of\nmaintaining the peace and preserving our precious heritage of freedom.\nAs regards the Navy, this means keeping the Fleet modern and up-to-date.\nIt means the orderly replacement of older ships. It means adapting the latest\ntechnology to naval use and employing the wonderful new techniques science is\nproducing. And it means that we must make the best possible use of all the ships\nat our command, including gallant little patrol gunboats like the Grand Rapids.\nToday as we christen the Grand Rapids we should remember that it is not the\nsize of a vessel that counts but her capability of fulfilling her role. We know\n(more)\n-6-\nthat the Grand Rapids will measure up to her mission. And so we take pride in\nthis splendid little ship, a ship of a type which is older than our country\nitself.\nWe take pride in the Grand Rapids and we salute her builders, the Tacoma\nBoatbuilding Company, and the United States Navy. We take pride in knowing that\nin today's complex world the U.S.S. Grand Rapids will be operating on the side\nof freedom.\n###"
}