Proclamation 3293—Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day, 1959

Whereas history records that our Nation was born in struggle and turbulence; that it has survived recurring crises which have tried the souls of men; and that the maintenance of our freedom has required constant vigilance, unified strength, and the willingness of our people to make all necessary sacrifices; and

Whereas we are accustomed to join together on one day of each year in grateful tribute to our forebears and to our fellow citizens who have given their lives for us on the field of battle; and

Whereas, since we must seek to know, to accept, and to accomplish the will of Almighty God, and since we believe it to be His will that peace on earth shall some day prevail, it is fitting that we pray for Divine help in building a world in which the families of men may prosper together in justice and in honor; and

Whereas the Congress, by a joint resolution approved May 11, 1950 (64 Stat. 158), authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe May 30 of each year, which is Memorial Day, by praying, each in accordance with his own religious faith, for permanent peace:

Now, Therefore, I, Dwight D. Eisenhower, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Memorial Day, Saturday, May 30, 1959, as a day of prayer for permanent peace, and I designate the hour beginning in each locality at eleven o'clock in the morning as the time to unite in such prayer.

I call upon the newspapers, radio, television, and other media of information to assist in this observance. And I urge the people of the United States to join with one another in asking our Creator to bestow His benediction upon our fallen heroes, and in beseeching Him to give us the strength to go forward in confidence with what we have come to think we know—and in the right God gives us to see.

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 20th day of May in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and fifty-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and eighty-third.

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

By the President:

DOUGLAS DILLON,

Acting Secretary of State.