[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 131, 115th Congress, 1st Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
Proclamation 9629 of July 26, 2017

National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day, 2017

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

On National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day, we honor the patriots who
defended the Korean Peninsula against the spread of Communism

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in what became the first major conflict of the Cold War. We remember
those who laid down their lives in defense of liberty, in a land far
from home, and we vow to preserve their legacy.
Situated between World War II and the Vietnam War, the Korean War has
often been labeled as the ``Forgotten War,'' despite its having claimed
the lives of more than 36,000 Americans. The Korean War began on June
25, 1950, when North Korean forces, backed by the Soviet Union, invaded
South Korea. Shortly thereafter, American troops arrived and pushed back
the North Koreans. For 3 years, alongside fifteen allies and partners,
we fought an unrelenting war of attrition. Through diplomatic
engagements led by President Eisenhower, Americans secured peace on the
Korean Peninsula. On July 27, 1953, North Korea, China, and the United
Nations signed an armistice suspending all hostilities.
While the armistice stopped the active fighting in the region, North
Korea's ballistic and nuclear weapons programs continue to pose grave
threats to the United States and our allies and partners. At this
moment, more than 28,000 American troops maintain a strong allied
presence along the 38th parallel, which separates North and South Korea.
These troops, and the rest of our Armed Forces, help me fulfill my
unwavering commitment as President to protecting Americans at home and
to steadfastly defending our allies abroad.
As we reflect upon our values and pause to remember all those who fight
and sacrifice to uphold them, we will never forget our Korean War
veterans whose valiant efforts halted the spread of Communism and
advanced the cause of freedom.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, 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, 2017, as
National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day. I call upon all Americans to
observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities that honor
and give thanks to our distinguished Korean War veterans.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-sixth day of
July, in the year of our Lord two thousand seventeen, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-
second.
DONALD J. TRUMP