Proclamation 5256

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

General Casimir Pulaski fell at the Battle of Savannah 205 years ago, but his memory is still fresh among all those who prize freedom and value independence. General Pulaski was a patriot for two countries. The United States and Poland share the noble legacy of a hero who gave his life so that the torch of freedom would never be extinguished. In his native Poland, he struggled to oppose foreign occupation; in his adopted land, America, he fought to the death for the independence of the thirteen colonies.

In honoring General Pulaski, we also honor the generations of Polish Americans who, inspired by Pulaski's shining example and his spirit of self-sacrifice, have made great cultural, economic, and political contributions to American life. Without their achievements, the United States would be a very different and a far poorer country.

Polish Americans join with all of their fellow citizens in noting that the struggle for freedom and human rights continues. It is important to take this occasion to recommit ourselves to the support of the cause of genuine national reconciliation for Poland.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Thursday, October 11, 1984, as General Pulaski Memorial Day, and I direct the appropriate Government officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on that day. In addition, I encourage the people of the United States to commemorate this occasion as appropriate throughout the land.

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

RONALD REAGAN

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 12:22 p.m., October 12, 1984]