Proclamation 4376

May 27, 1975

Growing up has never been easy. We have all experienced moments of sorrow, disappointment, and frustration. And there have been times of joy and great satisfaction. For each of us, there have been special men along the way-men who cared.

They loved us and made us feel important. They helped provide for our needs. They took time to work and to play with us. And we often modelled ourselves after them.

These men who have given so much of themselves are our natural fathers, our foster fathers, our adoptive fathers and our big brothers. It is a fitting American tradition that once a year we pay a well-deserved tribute to these fathers of America.

Now, Therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States of America, in accordance with a joint resolution of Congress (36 U.S.C. 142a), urge each American to observe Sunday, June 15, 1975, as Father's Day, with appropriate public and private expressions of the love and gratitude we bear for our fathers.

I call upon Government officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings, and I invite the governments of the States and local communities to observe Father's Day with appropriate ceremonies.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred ninety-ninth.



GERALD R. FORD