PRAYER FOR PEACE, MEMORIAL DAY, 2012
BY
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
Our Nation endures and thrives because of the devotion of our men and women
in uniform, who, from generation to generation, carry a burden heavier than any
we may ever know. On Memorial Day, we honor those who have borne conflict's
greatest cost, mourn where the wounds of war are fresh, and pray for a just,
lasting peace.
The American fabric is stitched with the stories of sons and daughters who
gave their lives in service to the country they loved. They were patriots who
overthrew an empire and sparked revolution. They were courageous men and women
who strained to hold a young Union together. They were ordinary citizens who
rolled back the creeping tide of tyranny, who stood post through a long twilight
struggle, who saw terror and extremism threaten our world's security and said,
"I'll go." And though their stories are unique to the challenges they faced, our
fallen service members are forever bound by a legacy of valor older than the
Republic itself. Now they lay at rest in quiet corners of our country and the
world, but they live on in the families who loved them and in the soul of a
Nation that is safer for their service.
Today, we join together in prayer for the fallen. We remember all who have
borne the battle, whose devotion to duty has sustained our country and kept safe
our heritage as a free people in a free society. Though our hearts ache in their
absence, we find comfort in knowing that their legacy lives on in all of us --
in the security that lets us live in peace, the prosperity that allows us to
pursue our dreams, and the love that still beats in those who knew them. May God
bless the souls of the venerable warriors we have lost, and may He watch over
the men and women who serve us now. Today, tomorrow, and in perpetuity, let us
give thanks to them by remaining true to the values and virtues for which they
fight.
In honor of all of our fallen service members, the Congress, by a joint
resolution approved May 11, 1950, as amended (36 U.S.C. 116), has requested the
President issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to
observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace and designating
a period on that day when the people of the United States might unite in prayer.
The Congress, by Public Law 106-579, has also designated 3:00 p.m. local time on
that day as a time for all Americans to observe, in their own way, the National
Moment of Remembrance.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America,
do hereby proclaim Memorial Day, May 28, 2012, as a day of prayer for permanent
peace, and I designate the hour beginning in each locality at 11:00 a.m. of that
day as a time to unite in prayer. I also ask all Americans to observe the
National Moment of Remembrance beginning at 3:00 p.m. local time on Memorial
Day.
I request the Governors of the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, and the appropriate officials of all units of government, to direct that
the flag be flown at half-staff until noon on this Memorial Day on all
buildings, grounds, and naval vessels throughout the United States and in all
areas under its jurisdiction and control. I also request the people of the
United States to display the flag at half-staff from their homes for the
customary forenoon period.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fifth day of May,
in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.
BARACK OBAMA
