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

 
PROCLAMATION 8844--JULY 27, 2012

Proclamation 8844 of July 27, 2012

National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day, 2012

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Sixty-two years ago, the Communist invasion of the Republic of Korea
summoned a generation of Americans to serve. From the landings at Inchon
to the Pusan Perimeter, from Heartbreak Ridge to Chosin Reservoir, our
forces fought with immeasurable courage in one of the defining moments
of the Cold War. Today, on the 59th anniversary of the Military
Armistice Agreement signed at Panmunjom, we honor all who served in the
Korean War, and we pay lasting tribute to the brave men and women who
gave their lives for our Nation.
Through 3 years of combat, American service members and allied forces
overcame some of the most unforgiving conditions in modern warfare. They
weathered bitter winters and punishing heat. They fought on with courage
and distinction--often outgunned and outmanned. Many Americans suffered
wounds that would never fully heal. Still more we count among the
captured and the missing, and our resolve to account for Americans who
did not come home will never waver. Most of all, we honor the tens of
thousands of Americans who gave their lives defending a country they had
never known and a people they had never met. Their legacy lives on not
only in the hearts of the American people, but in a Republic of Korea
that is free and prosperous; an alliance that is stronger than ever
before; and a world that is safer for their service.
Shortly after the Military Armistice Agreement was signed, President
Dwight D. Eisenhower noted that ``with special feelings of sorrow--and
of solemn gratitude--we think of those who were called upon to lay down
their lives in that far-off land to prove once again that only courage
and sacrifice can keep freedom alive upon the earth.'' Nearly six
decades later, we renew that call to honor and reflect. Now and forever,
let us keep faith with our Korean War veterans by upholding the ideals
they fought to protect, and by supporting them with the care and respect
they so deeply deserve.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of
America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and
the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim July 27, 2012, as
National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day. I call upon all Americans to
observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities that honor
our distinguished Korean War veterans.


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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-seventh day
of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
seventh.
BARACK OBAMA