General Pulaski Memorial Day, 2020

Proclamation 10099 of October 9, 2020

General Pulaski Memorial Day, 2020

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

The life of the Polish-American hero General Casimir
Pulaski is a testament to our Nation's ideals and a
paragon of the cause of human freedom. General
Pulaski's devotion to country--and the shared values
upon which our Nation and Poland were both founded--
accentuates our common commitment to liberty. On
General Pulaski Memorial Day, we honor and celebrate
his courage and expertise in the Revolutionary War,
which helped found a Nation conceived in the ideals he
held most dearly.

General Pulaski was a military leader renowned for his
bravery and tactical acumen. In Poland, he fought
valiantly in defense of his country's sovereignty and
against the scourge of foreign tyranny. In 1777,
recognizing our burgeoning Nation's cause, Pulaski
eagerly joined General George Washington's Continental
Army upon the recommendation of Benjamin Franklin.
Pulaski spent the next 2 years in service to America
and its battle for self-determination and liberty.

Throughout his time in the Continental Army, General
Pulaski distinguished himself as a military leader of
tactical brilliance and tremendous valor. At the Battle
of Brandywine, he famously saved General Washington's
life, who later promoted him to Brigadier General and
gave him command of a cavalry division. Dubbed the
``Pulaski Legion'' his division played a key role in
the fight for American Independence. Tragically,
though, the ``Father of the American Cavalry'' was
mortally wounded while leading his men during the
Battle of Savannah in October of 1779.

General Pulaski once wrote to General Washington: ``I
came here, where freedom is being defended, to serve
it, and to live or die for it'' General Pulaski's
ultimate sacrifice for a young Nation that was not his
own illustrates what is still true today--America is
the shining city on a hill and a symbol of freedom and
opportunity for the entire world. The United States of
America is more than a name to rally around; it is the
land of a people committed to universal values that
inspired a young Polish soldier to fight over 200 years
ago, thousands of miles from his place of birth, and it
continues to inspire freedom-loving people near and
far.

As I told the Polish people during a trip to Warsaw in
my first year in office, the United States and Poland
share a special bond forged by unique histories and
national characters, and a fellowship that exists only
among people who have fought and bled and died for
freedom.

As we join together in celebration of General Pulaski's
commitment to the cause of liberty, we reaffirm the
enduring bond between our Nation and his native Poland.
His legacy, carried in the hearts of nearly 10 million
Polish Americans, will forever be etched into the great
American story.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim October 11, 2020, as
General Pulaski Memorial Day. I encourage all Americans
to commemorate on this occasion those who have
contributed to the furthering of our Nation.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and forty-fifth.