National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, 2000

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 7385 of December 6, 2000

National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, 2000

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

While the bitter winds of war raged across much of the
world on the morning of December 7, 1941, the United
States was still at peace. At Pearl Harbor, the 130
vessels of the U.S. Pacific Fleet lay tranquil in the
Sunday silence. Then, at 7:55 a.m., that silence was
shattered by the sound of falling bombs and the rattle
of machine-gun fire, as the war came home to America.

In making such a devastating preemptive strike, the
forces of Imperial Japan sought to weaken our national
spirit and cripple our military might. But our
attackers would soon learn that they had seriously
misjudged the character of the American people and the
strength of our democracy. Though 21 ships were sunk or
badly damaged, 347 aircraft destroyed or in need of
significant repair, and some 3,500 Americans dead or
injured, the attack on Pearl Harbor galvanized our
Nation into action, reaffirmed our commitment to
freedom, and strengthened our resolve to prevail.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, millions of
Americans volunteered to serve in the Armed Forces.
Millions of others filled factories and shipyards as
the great industrial engine of our free enterprise
system was harnessed to produce the planes, tanks,
ships, and guns that armed the forces of freedom. Many
of the ships sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor
were raised and repaired to sail once again with the
U.S. Pacific Fleet--the same fleet that in September of
1945 would witness the surrender of Imperial Japan.

On Veterans Day this year, America celebrated the
groundbreaking for a memorial in our Nation's capital
dedicated to our World War II veterans. This memorial
will stand as a testament to the countless brave
Americans who responded to the attack on Pearl Harbor
and the threat to our freedom by answering the call to
service; both at home and overseas. It will also stand
as testament to the spirit of a Nation that believes
profoundly in the ideals upon which it was founded, and
it will serve as an enduring reminder of what Americans
can accomplish when we work together to achieve our
common goals.

The outpouring of support for this memorial, from young
and old alike, shows that the American people's deep
conviction in our Nation's values has not diminished in
the intervening years. We will never forget the men and
women who took up arms in the greatest struggle
humanity has ever known; nor will we forget the lessons
they taught us: that we must remain ever vigilant,
determined, and ready to advance the cause of freedom
whenever and wherever it is threatened.

The Congress, by Public Law 103-308, has designated
December 7, 2000, as ``National Pearl Harbor
Remembrance Day.''

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, do hereby proclaim December
7, 2000, as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. I
urge all Americans to observe this day with appropriate
programs, ceremonies, and activities in honor of the
Americans who served at Pearl Harbor. I also ask all
Federal departments and agencies, organizations,

and individuals to fly the flag of the United States at
half- staff on this day in honor of those Americans who
died as a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

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