[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 30 (Monday, July 31, 1995)]
[Page 1309]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6812--National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day, 1995

July 26, 1995

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    On July 27, 1953, the guns finally fell silent over the Korean 
peninsula. Three years of fierce struggle, costing over 600,000 lives 
among U.S. and allied combatants, ended with a negotiated cease-fire at 
Panmunjom. At that moment, in the midst of the Cold War, facing the 
burden of containing a hostile communist world, America could not yet 
see clearly all that the Korean War had achieved.
    Time and history have cleared our vision. More than four decades 
later, we look back in awe and gratitude at what our Armed Forces and 
allies accomplished in Korea. Under the banner of the United Nations, 
they fought to defend freedom and human dignity in the Korean peninsula, 
demonstrating to the world's totalitarian regimes that men and women of 
goodwill were ready to pay the ultimate price so that others might enjoy 
the blessings of liberty. They helped the Republic of South Korea grow, 
survive, and prosper as an independent and democratic nation and a 
strong friend of the United States. With their quiet courage and stern 
resolve, American troops sowed the seeds for the triumph of democracy 
that is sweeping across the globe today.
    Now, at long last, we have a fitting memorial to honor the 
achievements and the sacrifice of our Korean War veterans. From across 
this country and around the world, these veterans will gather in our 
Nation's capital to dedicate the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the 
enduring testament to their valor and generosity of spirit. America 
honors their service; we remember their sacrifice; and we are forever in 
their debt.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the 
Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim July 27, 
1995, as ``National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day.'' I call upon all 
Americans to observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and 
activities in honor of our Nation's Korean War veterans.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-sixth 
day of July, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-five, 
and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred 
and twentieth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:44 a.m., July 27, 
1995]

Note: This proclamation was released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on July 27, and it was published in the Federal Register on 
July 28.