[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 41 (Monday, October 16, 2000)]
[Page 2430]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

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Proclamation 7361--General Pulaski Memorial Day, 2000

October 10, 2000

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    Each year on October 11, we solemnly pause to honor the life and 
achievements of Casimir Pulaski, a true hero whose devotion to liberty 
has inspired the gratitude of the American people for more than 200 
years.
    Born to wealth and privilege in Poland, Pulaski sacrificed both by 
joining his father and brothers in the fight against tyranny and foreign 
oppression in his beloved homeland. His battlefield exploits earned him 
a leading position among Polish patriotic forces as well as renown and 
admiration throughout Europe. After years of braving insurmountable 
odds, however, Pulaski and his fellow freedom fighters were overwhelmed 
by enemy forces. Undaunted, he continued to battle for Poland's freedom 
while in exile in Turkey and France.
    Impressed by Pulaski's military record and reverence for freedom, 
Benjamin Franklin wrote from his post in Paris to George Washington and 
succeeded in helping Pulaski secure a commission in the Continental 
Army. As a result of Pulaski's brave and able conduct at the battle of 
Brandywine Creek in 1777, the Continental Congress granted him a 
Brigadier General commission and the command of all Continental Army 
cavalry forces. For the next 2 years, General Pulaski contributed much 
to the American cause in the Revolutionary War through his battlefield 
expertise, mastery of cavalry tactics, and extraordinary courage. On 
October 9, 1779, Pulaski was gravely wounded at the siege of Savannah 
while leading patriot forces against fire from enemy batteries. He died 
2 days later, far from his beloved homeland and mourned by the brave 
Americans whose cause he had made his own.
    Today, as both the United States and Poland enjoy freedom and 
growing prosperity and look forward to a bright future as friends and 
NATO allies, we remember with profound appreciation Casimir Pulaski's 
resolve and sacrifice and the generations of Poles and Americans like 
him who valiantly fought to secure the peace and liberty we enjoy today.
    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 
Wednesday, October 11, 2000, as General Pulaski Memorial Day. I 
encourage all Americans to commemorate this occasion with appropriate 
programs and activities.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of 
October, in the year of our Lord two thousand, and of the Independence 
of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-fifth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., October 12, 
2000]

Note: This proclamation was released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on October 11, and it was published in the Federal Register on 
October 13.