[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 49 (Monday, December 13, 1999)]
[Pages 2531-2532]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7259--National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, 1999

December 7, 1999

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Early on Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, the 130 vessels of the 
U.S. Pacific Fleet lay quiet and serene in Pearl Harbor. Americans 
sailors were preparing to raise colors, unaware that the worst naval 
disaster in American history was about to unfold. As the first wave of 
Japanese planes dropped torpedo bombs on the fleet, all eight 
battleships along with three destroyers and three light cruisers were 
hit. Two hours after the first Japanese bomber hit its target, 21 ships 
of the U.S. Pacific Fleet lay sunk or badly damaged. U.S. aircraft 
losses included 188 planes destroyed and another 159 damaged. Before the 
bombing was over, some 3,500 Americans had been killed or injured. The 
sinking of the battleship USS ARIZONA remains the most recognized symbol 
of that tragic day. Of the ARIZONA's crew, 1,177 were killed, nearly 
half of all the deaths suffered at Pearl Harbor.
    Time has not dimmed our memory of the ferocity of that attack 58 
years ago or the pain of the losses we suffered. The assault brought 
shock and grief not only to the families and loved ones of those who 
were injured or lost their lives, but also to our entire country.
    The attack on Pearl Harbor shook our Nation but strengthened our 
resolve. Two days later, in a Fireside Chat, President Roosevelt 
affirmed that resolve in explaining America's sudden thrust into World 
War II: ``We don't

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like it--we didn't want to get in it--but we are in it and we're going 
to fight it with everything we've got. We are going to win the war and 
we are going to win the peace that follows.'' Just as the American 
forces at Pearl Harbor responded to the attack with great courage, the 
United States responded with determination that this assault would not 
keep us from victory over the Axis powers. Union leaders agreed not to 
strike for the duration of the war as President Roosevelt garnered the 
support of our working men and women to increase war production and 
build our ``Arsenal of Democracy.'' Millions of American patriots joined 
the Armed Forces, willing to serve and sacrifice in the cause of 
freedom.
    Rising from the destruction at Pearl Harbor, all but three of the 
ships sunk there were repaired and put back into service. Less than 4 
years later, the Pacific Fleet sailed victoriously into Tokyo Bay. 
Today, the Battleship Missouri Memorial is docked on Pearl Harbor's 
Battleship Row, a fitting tribute to our triumph in World War II. It was 
Pearl Harbor that cemented the United States resolve to win the war, and 
it was aboard the ``Mighty Mo'' that the Japanese signed surrender 
documents in 1945, and peace in the Pacific was finally realized.
    Pearl Harbor is both a reminder of what can happen when we are 
unprepared and a call for continuing vigilance in defense of our Nation. 
The world has changed greatly since that dark day more than half a 
century ago, but our need to remain engaged is more crucial than ever. 
We must never forget the lessons of Pearl Harbor or the courage, 
determination, and indomitable spirit of that generation of Americans 
who recovered from a devastating defeat to win the ultimate victory for 
freedom, democracy, and peace.
    The Congress, by Public Law 103-308, has designated December 7, 
1999, as ``National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.''
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim December 7, 1999, as National 
Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. I urge all Americans to observe this day 
with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities in honor of the 
Americans who served at Pearl Harbor. I also ask all Federal departments 
and agencies, organizations, and individuals to fly the flag of the 
United States at half-staff on this day in honor of those Americans who 
died as a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this seventh day of 
December, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, and 
of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
twenty-fourth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., December 8, 
1999]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on 
December 9.