General Pulaski Memorial Day, 2000

Proclamation 7361 of October 10, 2000

General Pulaski Memorial Day, 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.