[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 21 (Monday, May 30, 1994)]
[Pages 1146-1147]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6693--Armed Forces Day, 1994

May 21, 1994

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Forty-four years ago, President Harry Truman set aside a special day 
to salute the men and women who dedicate their lives to the ultimate act 
of public service: protecting and defending our lives, our liberties, 
and our right to the pursuit of happiness.
    President Truman proclaimed the first Armed Forces Day at a major 
turning point in America's history. With the greatest sacrifice, we had 
just defeated the forces of global domination and tyranny, but we also 
were faced with the first chill of a Cold War that would last for four 
decades.
    Through it all, from the blood and fire of World War II, to the 
nightmare fears of nuclear confrontation, America never lost hope, never 
despaired. We faced each threat with faith in God and in the skills, 
courage, and dedication of our men and women in uniform. We slept each 
night in the comforting knowledge that they held constant vigil.
    Today we are at another turning point. The Cold War is over, but our 
Nation is faced with a host of new and more complex challenges to peace 
and stability in the world. Yet we face the future in a position of 
strength and with a powerful and ready military force.
    As President and Commander in Chief, I am pleased to join with all 
Americans in saluting the men and women of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, 
Air Force, and the Coast Guard. We also thank their families and 
friends, whose love and sacrifice make a special contribution to 
America's security. The Nation's peace and stability are in very capable 
hands; we are deeply grateful.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the 
United States, continuing the precedent of my nine immediate 
predecessors in office, do hereby proclaim the third Saturday of each 
May as Armed Forces Day.
    I direct the Secretary of Defense on behalf of the Army, Marine 
Corps, Navy, Air Force, and the Secretary of Transportation on behalf of 
the Coast Guard, to plan for appropriate observances each year, with the 
Secretary of Defense responsible for soliciting the participation and 
cooperation of civil authorities and private citizens.
    I invite the Governors of the States, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
Rico, and other areas subject to the jurisdiction of the United

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States, to provide for the observance of Armed Forces Day within their 
jurisdiction each year in an appropriate manner designed to increase 
public understanding and appreciation of the Armed Forces of the United 
States.
    I also invite national and local veterans, civic and other 
organizations to join in the observance of Armed Forces Day each year.
    I call upon all Americans, not only to display the flag of the 
United States at their homes on Armed Forces Day, but also to learn 
about our system of defense and about the men and women who sustain it, 
by attending and participating in the local observances of the day.
    Proclamation 5983 of May 17, 1989, is hereby superseded.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first 
day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-four, 
and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred 
and eighteenth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:50 a.m., May 23, 
1994]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on May 24.