06/24/1963
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu...
"I don't think that we can exaggerate the great advantage which the Soviet Union secured in the fifties by being first in space."
"We started behind."
"Now, Therefore, I, John F. Kennedy, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Thursday, October 11, 1962, as General Pulaski's Memorial Day; and I direct the appropriate officials..."
"I also invite the people of the United States to observe the day with appropriate ceremonies in honor of the memory of General Pulaski and the high ideals for which he sacrificed his life."