Video: 'The President: December 1967. MP891.' (Dec. 23, 1967, at 23:36)

(Saturday, December 23, 1967, 8:43 a.m.-10:25 a.m. local time/1:43-3:25 UTC; during the Vietnam War, part of the Indochina Wars and the Cold War) — During a 4+ day, 27,000-mile round-the-world journey to promote peace ahead of the Christmas holiday, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson made an unannounced visit to American troops today in South Vietnam, stopping at the Cam Ranh Base on his way back from memorial services for Australian Prime Minister Holt.

Johnson was greeted by General William Westmoreland and his deputy, General Creighton Abrams, and Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker.

After conferring briefly with 30 of Westmoreland’s field commanders, LBJ addressed 2,450 American troops, telling them the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese were not yet beaten but knew they had “met their master in the field.”

In a tour of the base hospital, Johnson shook hands with patients and personally presented Purple Heart medals to some of the wounded.

Video: 'American Experience LBJ 2' (Dec 23, 1967, at 1:19:20)

Video: 'Vietnam: A Television History - Tet [6/11]' (Dec. 23, 1967, at 10:30)

Video: 'Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War - Uneasy Allies [4/13]' (Dec. 23, 1967, at 28:50)