Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 97.djvu/1654

 97 STAT. 1622 PROCLAMATION 5098—SEPT. 15, 1983 Day. I direct the appropriate Government officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings that day. I also invite the people of the United States to honor the memory of Leif Erikson on that day by holding appropriate exercises and ceremonies in suitable places throughout the land. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 15th day of Sept., in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eighth. RONALD REAGAN Proclamation 5098 of September 15, 1983 Thanksgiving Day, 1983 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation Since the Pilgrims observed the initial Thanksgiving holiday in 1621, this oc- casion has served as a singular expression of the transcending spiritual values that played an instrumental part in the founding of our country. One hundred and twenty years ago, in the midst of a great and terrible civil conflict. President Lincoln formally proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiv- ing to remind those "insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God" of this Nation's bounty and greatness. Several days after the dedica- tion of the Gettysburg battlefield, the United States celebrated its first na- tional Thanksgiving. Every year since then, our Nation has faithfully contin- ued this tradition. The time has come once again to proclaim a day of thanksgiving, an occasion for Americans to express gratitude to their God and their country. In his remarks at Gettysburg, President Lincoln referred to ours as a Nation "under God." We rejoice in the fact that, while we have maintained sepa- rate institutions of church and state over our 200 years of freedom, we have at the same time preserved reverence for spiritual beliefs. Although we are a pluralistic society, the giving of thanks can be a true bond of unity among our people. We can unite in gratitude for our individual freedoms and indi- vidual faiths. We can be united in gratitude for our Nation's peace and prosperity when so many in this world have neither. As was written in the first Thanksgiving Proclamation 120 years ago, "No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God." God has blessed America and her people, and it is appropriate we recognize this bounty. NOW, THEREFORE, I, RONALD REAGAN, President of the United States of America, in the spirit of the Pilgrims, President Lincoln, and all succeed- ing Presidents, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 24, 1983, as a Na- tional Day of Thanksgiving, and I call upon Americans to affirm this day of thanks by their prayers and their gratitude for the many blessings upon this land and its people. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 15th day of

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