Proclamation 5872 --
General Pulaski Memorial Day, 1988
September 28, 1988
the President of the United States of
Casimir Pulaski, Polish and American patriot,
revolutionary, and hero, gave his life for liberty 209 years ago during America's War of Independence.
Leading a cavalry assault at the siege of Savannah, he was mortally
wounded. But the cause for which he fought so courageously was to prevail, and
his immortal example of service and sacrifice was to inspire lovers of freedom
around the globe forever after. America does well to pause in
remembrance on the anniversary of General Pulaski's death and to swear eternal
allegiance to the principles of liberty and justice he held dear.
Casimir Pulaski had also fought for liberty in Poland, his native land. When
victory eluded the brave Polish people, he sought a kindred cause and found it
in America. There ``the shot heard
'round the world'' had sounded warning to tyrants and hope to mankind. Like
Polish patriots to this day, Pulaski knew that freedom's call is universal --
that a battle for freedom anywhere is a battle for freedom everywhere; that
liberty is diminished everywhere as long as tyranny reigns anywhere. In
fighting for America, General Pulaski fought
also for the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
-- rights that America had boldly declared,
rights that God had granted Americans and Poles and all humanity alike.
America's struggle for freedom
was victorious, thanks to Casimir Pulaski and to
countless men and women like him. Tragically, freedom has not yet come to some
nations, and it has been snatched from others. But freedom is on the move. Just
as General Pulaski stood with us, so will we continue to stand for liberty
throughout the globe. So will we stand for the people
of Poland, in whose hearts faith
and freedom and the spirit of Pulaski burn ever brightly. Let our observance of
General Pulaski Memorial Day, 1988, remind us of all this
Polish hero and his fellow Poles have done for America; let it remind us as
well that his work and ours, the cause of freedom, goes on today and every day.
Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, by
virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United
States, do hereby proclaim Tuesday, October 11, 1988, 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 our land.
Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of
September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-eight, and of
the Independence of the United States of
America the two hundred and thirteenth.
[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, , September 29, 1988]