[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 126, 112th Congress, 2nd Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
PROCLAMATION 8831--MAY 25, 2012

Proclamation 8831 of May 25, 2012

Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day, 2012

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Our Nation endures and thrives because of the devotion of our men and
women in uniform, who, from generation to generation, carry a burden
heavier than any we may ever know. On Memorial Day, we honor those who
have borne conflict's greatest cost, mourn where the wounds of war are
fresh, and pray for a just, lasting peace.


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The American fabric is stitched with the stories of sons and daughters
who gave their lives in service to the country they loved. They were
patriots who overthrew an empire and sparked revolution. They were
courageous men and women who strained to hold a young Union together.
They were ordinary citizens who rolled back the creeping tide of
tyranny, who stood post through a long twilight struggle, who saw terror
and extremism threaten our world's security and said, ``I'll go.'' And
though their stories are unique to the challenges they faced, our fallen
service members are forever bound by a legacy of valor older than the
Republic itself. Now they lay at rest in quiet corners of our country
and the world, but they live on in the families who loved them and in
the soul of a Nation that is safer for their service.
Today, we join together in prayer for the fallen. We remember all who
have borne the battle, whose devotion to duty has sustained our country
and kept safe our heritage as a free people in a free society. Though
our hearts ache in their absence, we find comfort in knowing that their
legacy lives on in all of us--in the security that lets us live in
peace, the prosperity that allows us to pursue our dreams, and the love
that still beats in those who knew them. May God bless the souls of the
venerable warriors we have lost, and may He watch over the men and women
who serve us now. Today, tomorrow, and in perpetuity, let us give thanks
to them by remaining true to the values and virtues for which they
fight.
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 28, 2012, 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.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fifth day of
May, in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
sixth.
BARACK OBAMA