THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

        PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF FRED F. WOERNER AND 
         F. HAYDN WILLIAMS AS MEMBERS OF THE AMERICAN BATTLE 
                         MONUMENTS COMMISSION

The President today appointed Fred F. Woerner and F. Haydn Williams as members of the American Battle Monuments Commission.

General Fred F. Woerner of Massachusetts is a former Commander in Chief of the U.S. Southern Command. He retired from the U.S. Army in 1989 with the rank of four-star general. General Woerner is a former Commander in Chief of the U.S. Southern Command and is now a Professor of International Relations at Boston University.

Dr. F. Haydn Williams of California is President Emeritus of The Asia Foundation, having served 25 years as the President of the Foundation. He served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense under both President Eisenhower and President Kennedy and served in the U.S. Navy Reserve from 1942-1946. Dr. Williams is active in promoting the construction of a war memorial to the casualties of the World War II battles at Saipan and Tinian.

The American Battle Monuments Commission is responsible for commemorating the U.S. Armed Forces in places where they have served since April 6, 1917, by designing, constructing, operating and maintaining permanent American military burial grounds on foreign soil. The Commission also controls the erection of military monuments and markers in foreign countries by other American citizens, both in the public and private sectors. The Commission operates and maintains 24 military burial grounds for War Dead and 73 memorial structures worldwide. Over 11 million people visited these cemeteries, monuments, and memorials last year.

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