Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 107 Part 3.djvu/637

 PROCLAMATION 6504—NOV. 6, 1992 107 STAT. 2575 NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week of November 8 through November 14, 1992, as National Women Veterans Recognition Week. I urge all Americans to observe this week with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereimto set my hand this fourth day of November, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety- two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and seventeenth. GEORGE BUSH Proclamation 6504 of November 6, 1992 SPAR Anniversary Week, 1992 By the President of the United States of America v( A Proclamation During World War II, recognizing the military's urgent need for personnel and both the ability and the desire of women to contribute to the total Allied effort, the United States Congress passed legislation establishing the Coast Guard Women's Reserve. The Coast Guard Women's Reserve was created as a sister service to the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WACS), Women Accepted for Volimtary Emergency Service (WAVES) in the Naval Reserve, and Women Marines. The first director of the Coast Guard Women's Reserve, Captain Dorothy C. Stratton, coined its acronjnn, SPAR, from the Latin and English translations of the Coast Guard motto. Semper Paratus! (Always Ready!). Women from throughout the United States and from all waUcs of life were recruited as SPARS, becoming the first women to be trained at a United States service academy, the United States Coast Guard Academy. Throughout the course of the war, they performed admirably as executive officers, division heads, watch officers, coxswains, gunner's mates, and machinist's mates—^to name but a few of their important roles. Following World War n, SPARS were integrated into the Organized Reserve Training Program. Many served with distinction in highly specialized jobs during the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, and today, a half-century after the founding of the Women's Reserve, Coast Guard women serve in all phases of Coast Guard operations. We note with special admiration and pride the contributions of Coast Guard women during Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm. In honor of the dedicated service of women in the United States Coast Guard, the Congress, by H.R. 5617, has designated the week of November 17 through November 23, 1992, as "SPAR Anniversary Week" and has requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of that week. NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week of November 17 through November 23, 1992, as SPAR Anniversary Week. I encourage the Governors of the States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and officials

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