[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 21 (Monday, May 31, 1993)]
[Pages 988-989]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6566--Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day, 1993

 May 28, 1993

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Each spring, our Nation pauses to remember those who have died 
securing our peace and freedom. Across our country, Americans are 
holding ceremonies in remembrance of those who have died under the 
colors of our Nation. We remember the brave men and women whose 
sacrifices have paved the way for us to live in a country like America. 
We remember the families of our fallen heroes, and we grieve for their 
losses. And we remember the men and women who are now serving in our 
Armed Forces.

    In the war with Iraq and more recently in our peacekeeping 
operations in Somalia, more names of young Americans have been added to 
the roster of our departed heroes. Young service men and women who died 
in the Persian Gulf joined Americans who left their mark on history at 
places like the Argonne in World War I, Omaha Beach in World War II, and 
Pork Chop Hill in Korea, and in the jungles and rice paddies of Vietnam.

    Through two centuries and several wars, America has remained the 
land of the free and the home of the brave. The Persian Gulf war 
reaffirmed that international peace and security depend on our Nation's 
vigilance and on the sacrifices of our service men and women. Even in 
this post-Cold War era, we must be wary, for the world still remains a 
dangerous place.

    By showing our understanding, we can help further the sense of lives 
well lived, a time on earth well spent, and a heritage of service of 
lasting meaning.

    In respect and recognition of those Americans to whom we pay tribute 
today, the Congress, by joint resolution of May 11, 1950 (64 Stat. 158), 
has requested the President to issue a proclamation calling upon 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.

    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby designate Memorial Day, May 31, 1993, as a 
day of prayer for permanent peace, and I designate the hour beginning in 
each locality at 11 o'clock in the morning of that day as a time to 
unite in prayer. I urge the press, radio, television, and all other 
information media to cooperate in this observance.

    I also 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

[[Page 989]]

flown at half-staff until noon during this Memorial Day on all 
buildings, grounds, and naval vessels throughout the United States and 
in all areas under its jurisdiction and control, and I 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-eighth 
day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-three, 
and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred 
and seventeenth.

                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 12:10 p.m., May 28, 
1993]

Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on 
June 1.