National POW/MIA Recognition Day, 1995

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Part X

The President

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Proclamation 6818--National POW/MIA Recognition Day, 1995

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 6818 of August 29, 1995

National POW/MIA Recognition Day, 1995

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Throughout our proud history, America's sons and
daughters have answered the call to defend our
fundamental liberties and to safeguard the freedoms of
peace-seeking countries around the globe. Representing
the finest this Nation has to offer, the members of our
Armed Forces have given everything of themselves in
defense of the independence and democracy that we hold
so dear. This year we have a special opportunity to
honor their service as we commemorate the 50th
anniversary of the end of World War II, the dedication
of the Korean War Veterans Memorial, and the unveiling
of the POW and MIA postage stamp.

In remembering these heroic men and women, it is with
profound respect and solemn appreciation that we single
out those who paid the heaviest price. Among them are
the Prisoners of War and those Missing in Action. Their
courage and devotion to duty, honor, and country--often
in the face of brutal treatment and torture by their
captors--will never be forgotten by the American
people.

Our Nation also recognizes that the families of these
brave citizens have suffered and made great sacrifices
for our country. For it is in the name of both the
missing and their loved ones that we aggressively
pursue the release of any United States service member
held against his or her will, that we search tirelessly
for information about the missing, and that we seek the
repatriation of recoverable American remains.

On September 15, 1995, the flag of the National League
of Families of American Prisoners of War and Missing in
Southeast Asia, a black and white banner symbolizing
America's missing, will be flown over the White House,
the Capitol, the United States Departments of State,
Defense, and Veterans Affairs, the Selective Service
System Headquarters, the Vietnam Veterans and Korean
War Veterans Memorials, and national cemeteries across
the country. This flag is a symbol of our Nation's
covenant with those who defend us and with the loved
ones they leave behind--the brave individuals who have
earned our everlasting gratitude and their families who
deserve our deepest sympathy and our national pledge to
achieve the fullest possible accounting of American
troops.

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 September 15, 1995, as
``National POW/MIA Recognition Day.'' I urge State and
local officials, private organizations, and citizens
everywhere to join in honoring all Prisoners of War and
Missing in Action still unaccounted for as a result of
their dedicated service to our great country. I also
encourage the American people to recognize and
acknowledge the steadfast vigil the families of the
missing maintain in their quest for answers and a
conclusion to their struggle. Finally, I call upon all
Americans to observe this day with appropriate
ceremonies and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-ninth day of August, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and ninety-five, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two
hundred and twentieth.