White House Press Release, Proclamation Number 2719

96 #1045 IMMEDIATE RELEASE MARCH 7, 1947 500 based ARMY DAY AND ARMY WEEK, 1947 BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is PROCLAMATION # 2719 WHEREAS the Army of the United States is a bulwark of our country's strength in time of peril and the faithful guardian of our dearly-bought liberty in time of peace, and has since the inception of this Nation stood between our freedom-loving people and all aggres- sors; and WHEREAS the soldiers of our Army continue in active service as loyal servents of our democracy, whose purpose is to insure the establishment of justice, trenquillity, and an enduring peace; and WHEREAS Senate Concurrent Resolution 5, 75th Congress, 1st Session, which was agreed to by the House of Representatives on March 16, 1937 (50 Stat. 1108), provides: "That April 6 of each year be recognized by NARA the Senate and House of Representativos of the United States of America as Army Day, and that the President of the United States be requested, as Commander in Chief, to order military units throughout the United States to assist civic bodies in appropriate celebration to such extent as he may deem advisable; to issue a proclametion each year declaring April 6 as Army Day, and in such proclemetions to invite the Governors of the various States to issue Army Day proclametions: Provided, That in the event April 6 fells on Sunday, the following Monday shall be recognized as Army Day": NOW, THEREFORE, I, HARRY S. TRUMAN, President of the United States of America, in order that we may give special recognition to our Army, whose soldiers have gallantly secured and guarded our free- dom since the founding of the Republic and have heroically sacrificed to bring to the world a lesting peace founded upon justice to all manking, do hereby proclaim Monday, April 7, 1947, as Army Day, and encourage the observance of the week beginning April 6 and ending April 12, 1947, as Army Week; and I invite the Governors of the several States to issue proclamations for the celebration of this day and this week in such manner as to render appropriate honor to the Army of the United States. I also remind our citizens that our Army, charged with the responsibility of defending the United States and our territorial possessions and of promoting the firm establishment of peace and good order in the territories of our defeated enemies, can discharge these duties only with the firm support of our people. I therefore urge my fellow countrymen to be mindful of the Army's needs, to the end that our soldiers may not lack the means to perform effectively their continuing tasks and that the hardships of military service in foreign lands may be alleviated in every way possible. There is no means by which we can better honor our heroic dead than by our support of their living comrades who carry on the mission they so nobly advanced. (OVER)