Proclamation 3934—General von Steuben Memorial Day

It is with pleasure that I comply with the request of a joint resolution of the Congress that today, September 17, 1969, be proclaimed as General von Steuben Memorial Day.

When Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben joined Washington at Valley Forge, he was among the first of more than eight million Germans who came to our shores in search of liberty. As he went on to distinguish himself in battle at Monmouth and Yorktown, General von Steuben became a symbol of the contributions made to the cause of freedom by more than 26 million Americans of German descent who live and work and serve in every part of our country and in every aspect of our national life.

Now, Therefore, I, Richard Nixon, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate September 17, 1969, as General von Steuben Memorial Day.

I call upon all officials of the Government to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings, and I invite all of our people to join with our citizens of German descent who today are conducting special ceremonies to commemorate General von Steuben's birth.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and sixty-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninety-fourth.

RICHARD NIXON