[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 40 (Monday, October 5, 1998)]
[Page 1897]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7127--Gold Star Mother's Day, 1998

September 25, 1998

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Throughout our Nation's history, brave Americans have put on the 
uniforms of our Armed Services and placed themselves in harm's way to 
preserve our cherished freedoms and advance the ideals of democracy. In 
the brutality of war, many have sacrificed their lives, bringing 
devastating pain and grief to their families and friends. No one feels 
such a loss more acutely than do the mothers and fathers of these 
patriots who have paid so dearly to serve our country. To bear and 
nurture children, to give them life and unbounded love, to raise them 
with care to adulthood, only to lose them to the fatal grip of war, 
brings an abiding sorrow.
    Yet, with strength and determination, a group of extraordinary women 
has transformed sorrow into service to others. Since 1928, America's 
Gold Star Mothers have worked together to serve their communities and 
our Nation. They bring comfort and hope to disabled veterans and their 
families, to keep alive the memory of all Americans who have paid the 
ultimate price for our freedom, and to promote harmony among all the 
peoples of the world. Their quest for peace is especially poignant 
because they know better than most the cruel costs of war. Every Gold 
Star Mother has faced the inevitable and unyielding truth that the proud 
son or daughter who marched off to battle will never come home to her 
loving arms. Bound by sorrow yet filled with compassion, America's Gold 
Star Mothers are a noble example of love, dedication, and patriotism.
    As a Nation, we have a sacred duty to remember those who have died 
in service to our country, but we have an important responsibility to 
the living as well. America's Gold Star Mothers deserve our unfailing 
gratitude and profound respect, not only for their courage and 
compassion in the face of great personal sadness, but also for their 
constant love for our country and their fellow Americans. That is why 
the Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 115 of June 23, 1936 (49 Stat. 
1895), has designated the last Sunday in September as ``Gold Star 
Mother's Day'' and 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 September 27, 1998, as Gold Star 
Mother's Day. I call on all government officials to display the United 
States flag on government buildings on this day. I also urge the 
American people to display the flag and to hold appropriate meetings in 
their homes, places of worship, or other suitable places, as a public 
expression of the sympathy and the respect that our Nation holds for its 
Gold Star Mothers.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fifth 
day of September, 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, 11:26 a.m., September 
28, 1998]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on 
September 29. This item was not received in time for publication in the 
appropriate issue.