[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.