Gold Star Mother's Day, 1999

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Part V

The President

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Proclamation 7226--Gold Star Mother's Day, 1999

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7226 of September 24, 1999

Gold Star Mother's Day, 1999

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

For generations, the brave men and women of our Armed
Forces have answered our Nation's call to service. In
the air, on the sea, and across the world's
battlefields, they have fought with valor and
determination so that we might continue to live in
freedom. The blessings of liberty and peace we know
today have been paid for with the lives of those who
never returned home.

The Gold Star Mothers of America know the price of
freedom all too well. They have experienced one of
life's greatest joys in becoming a parent and have
endured one of life's greatest sorrows in losing a son
or daughter. The spirit of sacrifices made by our
fallen warriors lives on in the hearts of our Gold Star
Mothers.

Their sacrifice lives on as well in the work Gold Star
Mothers perform in communities throughout our country,
working with disabled veterans and their families,
nurturing patriotism in a new generation of young
Americans, reaching out to others who have lost a child
in the service of our Nation, and ensuring that the
contributions of their own sons and daughters are never
forgotten. The generous and compassionate work of Gold
Star Mothers is a powerful legacy of service that they
carry on in loving memory of their children.

We have a profound obligation to honor the service and
sacrifice of these remarkable women as we honor their
children. 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
26, 1999, 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-fourth day of September, 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.