    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 30 (Monday, July 28, 1997)]
    [Page 1125]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Proclamation 7014--National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day, 1997

    July 25, 1997

    By the President of the United States

    of America

    A Proclamation

        On July 27, 1953, a negotiated cease-fire brought an end to the
    Korean War and to some of the most savage fighting in the history of
    America's Armed Forces. More than 54,000 Americans lost their lives,
    more than 103,000 were wounded, and thousands more were listed as
    missing in action. To a nation still recovering from the terrors and
    hardships of World War II, this conflict was a harsh reminder that
    freedom still had enemies at large in the world.
        But the Korean War taught us that free nations could work together
    in partnership through the United Nations, standing firm against tyranny
    and in defense of liberty. We were reminded once again of the skill,
    courage, and indomitable spirit of our men and women in uniform. We
    learned that the American people were tough enough and determined enough
    to prevail in the long struggle of the Cold War.
        Our victory in that struggle had its roots in the Korean War, and we
    owe our veterans of that conflict a profound debt of gratitude. Many of
    them were still scarred from the battles of World War II when they
    answered the call to duty in Korea. They fought a different kind of war
    in an unfamiliar land, facing a new and fiercely determined enemy. There
    they proved to all the enemies of freedom, and to the world, that
    America's commitment to liberty, democracy, and human rights was not
    only one of words, but also one of deeds.
        Etched into the eastern wall of the Korean War Veterans Memorial in
    our Nation's Capital is the simple sentence, ``Freedom Is Not Free.'' On
    this day we honor those who recognized the truth of that inscription and
    were willing to pay freedom's price with their own lives. We salute our
    men and women in uniform who served so valiantly in the Korean War, and
    we remember with sorrow and with pride all those who never came home.
        The Congress, by Public Law 104-19 (36 U.S.C. 169m), has designated
    July 27, 1997, as ``National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day'' and has
    authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in
    observance of this day.
        Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United
    States of America, do hereby proclaim July 27, 1997, 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 Nation's distinguished Korean War veterans. I also ask
    Federal departments and agencies, interested groups, organizations, and
    individuals to fly the American flag at half-staff on July 27, 1997, in
    memory of the Americans who died as a result of their service in Korea.
        In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fifth
    day of July, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-seven,
    and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred
    and twenty-second.
                                                William J. Clinton

    [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:30 a.m., July 28,
    1997]

    Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on
    July 29.