Proclamation 3136—Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day, 1956

Whereas mankind throughout the ages has constantly sought for an enduring peace founded on mercy and justice; and

Whereas we are humbly aware that only through divine guidance can we find the course which we should follow to achieve permanent peace, and the strength and courage to pursue that course patiently and unceasingly until the goal is attained; and

Whereas it is eminently fitting that on May 30, Memorial Day, an anniversary devoted to the memory of our heroic dead who gave their lives in the cause of peace, we should turn to Almighty God in concerted prayer for wisdom in our striving for harmony among the nations of the world; and

Whereas in evidence of our longing for such harmony, the Congress provided, in a joint resolution approved May 11, 1950, that Memorial Day should thenceforth be observed as a day of Nationwide prayer for permanent peace:

Now, Therefore, I, Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States of America, do hereby call upon the people of this Nation to observe Memorial Day, May 30, 1956, as a day on which all of us, in our churches, in our homes, and in our hearts, may beseech God to guide our steps into the paths leading to permanent peace; and I designate the hour beginning in each locality at eleven o'clock in the morning as a period in which we may unite in humble petition for His help in reaching that goal.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

DONE at the City of Washington this 15th day of May in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and fifty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and eightieth.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

By the President:

JOHN FOSTER DULLES,

Secretary of State