Proclamation 6541

by Bill Clinton

{{center|By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

As Americans enter a new era that holds prospects for greater international cooperation and the expansion of democracy's reach, we are deeply indebted to the Armed Forces of the United States. We recognize that their service helped our Nation preserve liberty through two World Wars and the testing regional conflicts of the Cold War era and since. We remember how their sacrifices helped to maintain our way of life and safeguard freedom's cause.

The sacrifices made by our military personnel take many forms, from their willingness to serve, to their countless acts of selfless courage, to the expenditure by hundreds of thousands in this century of that last, full measure of devotion in behalf of their country. Today, we honor the particular sacrifice 0 the thousands of Americans who have been captured and held as prisoners of war---in Europe. and the Pacific, in Korea and Vietnam, in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm, and elsewhere.

We know that many of our men and women in uniform have been subject to brutal torture and inhumane deprivation. The treatment they endured too often violated fundamental standards of morality and stood in stark contravention of international treaties and customs governing the treatment of prisoners of war. Many of these brave Americans were disabled or died as a result of such treatment. Their experiences underscore our debt to those who place their lives in harm's way and stand willing to trade their liberty for ours. As a Nation, we must always remember the sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform and their families.

Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 9, 1993, as National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day.

I urge all Americans to join in honoring all members of the Armed Forces of the United States who have been held prisoners of war. I also encourage all Americans to join in saluting these individuals for their great sacrifices. Finally, I call on State and local officials, as well as private organizations, to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this ninth day of April, 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 seventeenth.