THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
_________________
For Immediate Release October
11, 2000
GENERAL PULASKI MEMORIAL DAY, 2000
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BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
Each year on October 11, we solemnly pause to honor the life and
achievements of Casimir Pulaski, a true hero whose devotion to liberty has
inspired the gratitude of the American people for more than 200 years.
Born to wealth and privilege in Poland, Pulaski sacrificed both by
joining his father and brothers in the fight against tyranny and foreign
oppression in his beloved homeland. His battlefield exploits earned him a
leading position among Polish patriotic forces as well as renown and
admiration throughout Europe. After years of braving insurmountable odds,
however, Pulaski and his fellow freedom fighters were overwhelmed by enemy
forces. Undaunted, he continued to battle for Poland's freedom while in
exile in Turkey and France.
Impressed by Pulaski?s military record and reverence for freedom,
Benjamin Franklin wrote from his post in Paris to George Washington and
succeeded in helping Pulaski secure a commission in the Continental Army.
As a result of Pulaski?s brave and able conduct at the battle of Brandywine
Creek in 1777, the Continental Congress granted him a Brigadier General
commission and the command of all Continental Army cavalry forces. For the
next 2 years, General Pulaski contributed much to the American cause in the
Revolutionary War through his battlefield expertise, mastery of cavalry
tactics, and extraordinary courage. On October 9, 1779, Pulaski was
gravely wounded at the siege of Savannah while leading patriot forces
against fire from enemy batteries. He died 2 days later, far from his
beloved homeland and mourned by the brave Americans whose cause he had made
his own.
Today, as both the United States and Poland enjoy freedom and growing
prosperity and look forward to a bright future as friends and NATO allies,
we remember with profound appreciation Casimir Pulaski's resolve and
sacrifice and the generations of Poles and Americans like him who valiantly
fought to secure the peace and liberty we enjoy today.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States
of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and
laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Wednesday, October 11, 2000,
as General Pulaski Memorial Day. I encourage all Americans to commemorate
this occasion with appropriate programs and activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of
October, in the year of our Lord two thousand, and of the Independence of
the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-fifth.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
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