Gold Star Mother's Day, 1998

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Part VIII

The President

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Proclamation 7127--Gold Star Mother's Day, 1998

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7127 of September 25, 1998

Gold Star Mother's Day, 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.