[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 135 (Wednesday, July 15, 1998)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 38073-38074]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-19040]


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                         Presidential Documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 135 / Wednesday, July 15, 1998 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 38073]]

                Proclamation 7108 of July 13, 1998

                
50th Anniversary of the Integration of the Armed 
                Services, 1998

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                On July 26, 1948, with the stroke of a pen, President 
                Harry Truman changed the course of American history. By 
                signing Executive Order 9981, ``Establishing the 
                President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and 
                Opportunity in the Armed Services,'' he officially 
                declared that ``there shall be equality of treatment 
                and opportunity for all persons in the armed services 
                without regard to race, color, religion or national 
                origin.'' His action reflected the growing realization 
                by more and more Americans that our Nation could no 
                longer reconcile segregation with the values we had 
                fought a war to uphold.

                The United States had emerged from World War II with a 
                new understanding of the importance of racial and 
                ethnic diversity to our Nation's strength and unity. 
                Nazi racism and the horrors of the concentration camps 
                shocked Americans and revealed the true dangers of 
                prejudice and discrimination. Hundreds of thousands of 
                our fellow citizens from many different ethnic and 
                racial backgrounds served and sacrificed in the war. 
                The valor of segregated African American soldiers--from 
                the Tuskegee Airmen and the 761st Tank Battalion to 
                individuals like General Benjamin O. Davis and General 
                Daniel ``Chappie'' James--could not be ignored. These 
                heroes risked their lives for our country overseas, and 
                yet still faced discrimination here at home. By signing 
                Executive Order 9981, President Truman set America on 
                the path to right this wrong.

                We have come a long way in the subsequent 50 years, and 
                the United States Armed Forces have been in the 
                vanguard of our crusade to abolish discrimination in 
                our society. Today our men and women in uniform 
                represent so many aspects of the diversity that has 
                made our Nation great, and they have proved that 
                different people, sharing the same values, can work 
                together as a mighty force for peace and freedom at 
                home and around the world. We still have much to 
                accomplish in our journey to become a society that 
                respects our differences, celebrates our diversity, and 
                unites around our shared values, but we should proudly 
                mark the milestones on that journey and rejoice in the 
                progress we have made thus far.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United 
                States, do hereby proclaim July 26, 1998, as the 50th 
                Anniversary of the Integration of the Armed Services. I 
                call upon all Americans to observe this day with 
                appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

[[Page 38074]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord 
                nineteen hundred and ninety-eight, and of the 
                Independence of the United States of America the two 
                hundred and twenty-third.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 98-19040
Filed 7-14-98; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P