[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 29 (Monday, July 20, 1998)]
[Pages 1372-1373]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7108--50th Anniversary of the Integration of the Armed 
Services, 1998

July 13, 1998

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    On July 26, 1948, with the stroke of a pen, President Harry Truman 
changed the course of American history. By signing Executive Order 9981, 
``Establishing the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and 
Opportunity in the Armed Services,'' he officially declared that ``there 
shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons

[[Page 1373]]

in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or 
national origin.'' His action reflected the growing realization by more 
and more Americans that our Nation could no longer reconcile segregation 
with the values we had fought a war to uphold.
    The United States had emerged from World War II with a new 
understanding of the importance of racial and ethnic diversity to our 
Nation's strength and unity. Nazi racism and the horrors of the 
concentration camps shocked Americans and revealed the true dangers of 
prejudice and discrimination. Hundreds of thousands of our fellow 
citizens from many different ethnic and racial backgrounds served and 
sacrificed in the war. The valor of segregated African American 
soldiers--from the Tuskegee Airmen and the 761st Tank Battalion to 
individuals like General Benjamin O. Davis and General Daniel 
``Chappie'' James--could not be ignored. These heroes risked their lives 
for our country overseas, and yet still faced discrimination here at 
home. By signing Executive Order 9981, President Truman set America on 
the path to right this wrong.
    We have come a long way in the subsequent 50 years, and the United 
States Armed Forces have been in the vanguard of our crusade to abolish 
discrimination in our society. Today our men and women in uniform 
represent so many aspects of the diversity that has made our Nation 
great, and they have proved that different people, sharing the same 
values, can work together as a mighty force for peace and freedom at 
home and around the world. We still have much to accomplish in our 
journey to become a society that respects our differences, celebrates 
our diversity, and unites around our shared values, but we should 
proudly mark the milestones on that journey and rejoice in the progress 
we have made thus far.
    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 26, 
1998, as the 50th Anniversary of the Integration of the Armed Services. 
I call upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate programs, 
ceremonies, and activities.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day 
of July, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-eight, and 
of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
twenty-third.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., July 14, 
1998]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on July 
15.