[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 105 (Thursday, June 2, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: X94-70602]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: June 2, 1994]
Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day, 1994
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Each year as summer approaches, we pause to honor the memory of
those who died in service to our Nation. Even though the Cold War
is over, there are still reminders--past and present--that the
price of peace can be very dear indeed. One reminder, engraved in
the stone memorial at the Omaha Beach Cemetery, eloquently
states, ``To these we owe our highest resolve, that the cause for
which they died, shall live.'' Whether at Valley Forge or in the
skies above Iraq, this tribute poignantly expresses the gratitude
felt by all Americans as we remember the men and women in uniform
who made the supreme sacrifice.
Each year, on the last Monday in May, we pause to pray for peace
and to pay homage to those who have died defending our liberties,
service men and women from all generations and from all wars. But
this year, Memorial Day especially recalls those Americans who
helped change the course of history and helped preserve a world
in which the ideals of freedom and individual rights could
flourish. One week from today, on June 6, we will observe the
50th Anniversary of D-Day. On that day in 1944, the world
witnessed perhaps the greatest military action in history--and
the beginning of the end of Nazi Germany's stranglehold on
Europe.
The passage of 50 years has seen the birth of new generations of
Americans who know of D-Day only from their history lessons.
Fifty years may have dimmed the memories of some who were alive
during World War II, but we need only look at those ``reminders''
of the price of freedom to understand what happened on that day
50 years ago.
Anzio, Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, Pointe du Hoc, and Normandy--each
is an unforgettable chapter in our Nation's history. Each is a
name that invokes memories of patriotism and valor, of teamwork
and sacrifice.
Each reminds us that our Nation was founded on the belief that
our democratic ideals are worth fighting for and, if necessary,
worth dying for. We have a sacred obligation to remember for all
time the names and the deeds of the Americans who paid that price
for all of us.
In respect and recognition of those courageous men and women to
whom we pay tribute today, the Congress, by joint resolution of
May 11, 1950 (64 Stat. 158), has requested the President to issue
a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to
observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace
and designating a period on that day when the people of the
United States might unite in prayer.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United
States of America, do hereby proclaim Memorial Day, May 30, 1994,
as a day of prayer for permanent peace, and I designate the hour
beginning in each locality at 11 o'clock in the morning of that
day as a time to unite in prayer. I urge the press, radio,
television, and all other information media to cooperate in this
observance.
I also request the Governors of the United States and the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the appropriate officials of all
units of government, to direct that the flag be flown at half-
staff during this Memorial Day on all buildings, grounds, and
naval vessels throughout the United States and in all areas under
its jurisdiction and control, and I request the people of the
United States to display the flag at half-staff from their homes
for the customary forenoon period.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth
day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-
four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the
two hundred and eighteenth.