Wednesday, February 14, 1973, Flags to Full Mast--POW Return

THE president HAS STATE STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT: RAISING OF FLAGS TO FULL MAST Today begins the final week of national mourning for President Lyndon Johnson. This morning in a telephone conversation with Mrs. Johnson we both remarked how much her husband would have liked to share in the moments of joy as our first prisoners of war return from Indochina. Mrs. Johnson and I agreed that for the American flag to be flying high on the day that the first prisoners return to American soil would be the finest possible tribute both to her husband's memory and to the heroism of the prisoners and their families - as well as to the missing men, the men who gave their lives, and all who helped to win peace with honor in Vietnam. I am therefore signing a proclamation this afternoon ordering the flag of the United States returned to full staff on the morning of the day and they arrive in America. In an earlier war, another American prisoner -- Francis Scott Key -- asked that stirring question whether the star-spangled banner yet waved "o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. 11 As our prisoners come home to America, let our answer be the same today as it was then. # # #