Proclamation 4851

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

Among those Americans who have answered their country's call to service in defense of its freedoms, there are thousands who, as a result of service in our Nation's military forces, have suffered the catastrophic disability of blindness. Despite the extreme severity of this disability, these veterans have succeeded in leading useful and productive lives, in part through Federal programs for their readjustment but, more significantly, by drawing upon a special brand of heroism.

Our country now enjoys the blessing of peace, and it is appropriate that all Americans recognize the special debt owed to those who have been blinded in the defense of our freedoms during the wars of this century.

We must acknowledge also the example they have provided to those blinded veterans whose equally catastrophic disability occurred after their separations from military service, and to other blinded Americans. Few are more worthy of national recognition than the disabled American veterans who have honored their commitments to their country and serve as a source of pride for us all.

I would also like to single out for praise those employers who have provided blinded veterans with the opportunity to develop rewarding private-sector careers. This promise of a future with challenge and fulfillment is particularly meaningful.

It is fitting that the Congress has, by enactment of Senate Joint Resolution 64, designated August 13, 1981, as "National Blinded Veterans Recognition Day."

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, call upon all Americans to observe Thursday, August 13, 1981, as National Blinded Veterans Recognition Day. I urge my fellow citizens and all interested groups and organizations to set aside this day to honor the sacrifices and service of our Nation's blinded veterans by means of appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and sixth.

RONALD REAGAN

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 4:56 p.m., August 6, 1981]