[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 37 (Monday, September 20, 1993)]
[Page 1754]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6590--Gold Star Mother's Day

 September 13, 1993

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    To become a parent is one of life's greatest joys. We devote 
ourselves to our children, investing our hopes and dreams in them and 
protecting them so that they may have a better life than we have had. 
There is probably no greater pain, therefore, than the loss of a child. 
None of us expects to outlive our children, and when mortal hands rob us 
of our posterity, the loss is devastating.
    Every Gold Star Mother has experienced this pain. As much as the 
soldiers themselves, these brave women know the meaning of sacrifice for 
country. Long after a slain soldier is laid to rest, that young man or 
woman's mother will remember her loss every day for the rest of her 
life. When a mother bids farewell to a child in uniform, she begins to 
serve her country in her own private way, worrying that her child will 
be in harm's way and that this young man or woman, in whom she has 
invested so much love and care, may pay the ultimate price on the 
battlefield. And when the unthinkable does happen, the Gold Star Mother 
must carry the wounds within her heart forever.
    We have a sacred duty to remember the devotion of Gold Star Mothers. 
Like the brave soldiers who have lain down their lives in defense of our 
freedoms, their mothers have earned our deepest honor and sympathy, 
having sacrificed so much for America, yet continuing to give of 
themselves to ensure that the ideals of freedom and democracy live on 
for future generations. Their losses and their contributions can be no 
greater, and our obligation to them cannot be measured.
    To pay fitting tribute to these women, the Congress, by Senate Joint 
Resolution 115 on June 23, 1936 (49 Stat. 1895), designated the last 
Sunday in September as ``Gold Star Mother's Day'' and authorized and 
requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this 
day.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim September 26, 1993, as Gold Star 
Mother's Day. I call on all government officials to display the United 
States flag on government buildings on this solemn day. I additionally 
urge the American people to display the flag and to hold appropriate 
meetings in their homes, places of worship, or other suitable places, as 
public expression of the sympathy and the respect that our Nation holds 
for its Gold Star Mothers.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this thirteenth day 
of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-three, 
and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred 
and eighteenth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:48 a.m., September 
15, 1993]

Note: This proclamation was released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on September 14, and it was published in the Federal Register 
on September 16.