Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 86.djvu/1681

 86 STAT. ]

PROCLAMATION 4136-MAY 19, 1972

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PROCLAMATION 4136

Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day, 1972 '

By the President of the United States of America

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A Proclamation At the height of the Civil War, the terrible conflict which ultimately claimed more than 200,000 American lives, Abraham Lincoln stood in a battlefield cemetery and asked a high resolve from "us, the living,... that these dead shall not have died in vain." They did not die in vain, for their heroism saved the Union; and after the guns fell silent at last, a grateful Nation set aside a Memorial Day in their memory each May. Yet the price of liberty was still not paid in full. Today, more than a hundred Memorial Days later, America looks back on five more wars and over 400,000 more dead in those wars. Thus, today more than ever, we the living bear the solemn duty of redeeming the sacrifices these brave men made, and of upholding steadfastly in life the cause they served so nobly in death. We can meet that duty best by raising to the honored legions of the fallen the most fitting memorial of all: a peace so just and secure that American sons need not give their lives again for their country. Such a peace has been the highest goal of the United States policy for many years. We have pursued peace unremittingly—through conciliation where we could, through strength where we had to, through battle where aggression left us no choice. We shall press on in that pursuit, relying not alone on human ways and means, but also on Him who "maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth," who in Scripture has commanded us: "Be still, and know that I am God." In recognition of this deep national reliance upon divine guidance and care, the Congress, by a joint resolution approved May 11, 1950, has requested the President to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace. NOW, THEREFORE, I, RICHARD NIXON, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Memorial Day, Monday, May 29, 1972, as a day of prayer for permanent peace, and I designate the hour beginning in each locality at 11 o'clock in the morning of that day as a time to unite in prayer.

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