[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 104 (Thursday, May 30, 2013)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 32539-32540]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-12983]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 104 / Thursday, May 30, 2013 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 32539]]


                Proclamation 8987 of May 24, 2013

                
Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day, 2013

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Since our Nation's earliest days, America has been 
                blessed with an unbroken chain of patriots who have 
                served our country with honor and distinction. From 
                Concord to the Korengal, generations of brave warriors 
                have fought for freedom across sand and snow, over mud 
                and mountains, into lonely deserts and through crowded 
                streets. Today, we pay tribute to those patriots who 
                never came back--who fought for a home to which they 
                never returned, and died for a country whose gratitude 
                they will always have.

                Scripture teaches us that ``greater love hath no man 
                than this, that a man lay down his life for his 
                friends.'' On Memorial Day, we remember those we have 
                lost not only for what they fought for, but who they 
                were: proud Americans, often far too young, guided by 
                deep and abiding love for their families, for each 
                other, and for this country. Our debt to them is one we 
                can never fully repay. But we can honor their sacrifice 
                and strive to be a Nation equal to their example. On 
                this and every day, we must meet our obligations to 
                families of the fallen; we must uphold our sacred trust 
                with our veterans, our service members, and their loved 
                ones.

                Above all, we can honor those we have lost by living up 
                to the ideals they died defending. It is our charge to 
                preserve liberty, to advance justice, and to sow the 
                seeds of peace. With courage and devotion worthy of the 
                heroes we remember today, let us rededicate ourselves 
                to those unending tasks, and prove once more that 
                America's best days are still ahead. Let us pray the 
                souls of those who died in war rest in eternal peace, 
                and let us keep them and their families close in our 
                hearts, now and forever.

                In honor of all of our fallen service members, the 
                Congress, by a joint resolution approved May 11, 1950, 
                as amended (36 U.S.C. 116), has requested the President 
                issue a proclamation calling on 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. The Congress, by Public Law 106-579, 
                has also designated 3:00 p.m. local time on that day as 
                a time for all Americans to observe, in their own way, 
                the National Moment of Remembrance.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, do hereby proclaim Memorial 
                Day, May 27, 2013, as a day of prayer for permanent 
                peace, and I designate the hour beginning in each 
                locality at 11:00 a.m. of that day as a time to unite 
                in prayer. I also ask all Americans to observe the 
                National Moment of Remembrance beginning at 3:00 p.m. 
                local time on Memorial Day.

                I 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 until noon on this 
                Memorial Day on all buildings, grounds, and naval 
                vessels throughout the United States and in all areas 
                under its jurisdiction and control. I also request the 
                people of the United States to display the flag at 
                half-staff from their homes for the customary forenoon 
                period.

[[Page 32540]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand thirteen, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
                seventh.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2013-12983
Filed 5-29-13; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F3