THE WHITE HOUSE      Office of the Press Secretary           May 25, 2000


                            DAY OF HONOR, 2000

                              -  - - - - - -

             BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

                              A PROCLAMATION


     Fifty-five years ago this month, the torch of freedom burned bright in
Europe once again as Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allied Forces.  Four
months later, with the defeat of Imperial Japan, World War II -- history's
bloodiest and most destructive conflict -- finally came to an end.

     That war's unprecedented threat to world peace, freedom, and human
rights called forth an unprecedented response from the American people.
United and determined after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, American
men and women poured into factories and shipyards, working around the clock
to build ships, planes, tanks, and guns.  Millions of others risked their
lives to defend our Nation and preserve the ideals of democracy.  By the
war's end, some 15 million had served in our Armed Forces, including more
than 1,200,000 African Americans, 300,000 Hispanic Americans, 50,000 Asian
Americans, 20,000 Native Americans, 6,000 Native Hawaiians and Pacific
Islanders, and 3,000 Native Alaskans.

     These minority members of our Armed Forces served with honor and
distinction in battles around the globe.  Many of them -- like the Tuskegee
Airmen, the Japanese American troops of the Army's "Go For Broke" regiment,
and the Native American Code Talkers who played a vital role in winning the
war in the Pacific -- were renowned for their bravery and dedication.
America's minority veterans fought other important battles as well --
battles against prejudice, ignorance, and discrimination.  Many gave their
lives on foreign soil for the freedom they had never fully shared at home.
Many of those who survived returned home from the war and worked to make
real in America the ideals for which they had fought so hard and for which
so many of their comrades in arms had died.

     On this Day of Honor, we have the opportunity -- and the
responsibility -- to acknowledge the contributions our minority veterans
have made to the peace and freedom we enjoy today.  I ask my fellow
citizens to join me in saluting the African American, Hispanic American,
Asian American, Native American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, Native
Alaskan, and other minority members who served so valiantly in our Armed
Forces during World War II and to remember those who died in service to our
country.   Their extraordinary devotion to duty is a reminder to us all
that our Nation's diversity is not a cause for division, but rather one of
our greatest strengths.

     The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 44, has authorized and
requested the President to issue a proclamation in recogni-tion of the
minority veterans who served in World War II.

     NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States
of America, do hereby proclaim May 25, 2000, as the Day of Honor, 2000.  I
call upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate programs,
ceremonies, and activities paying tribute to the service and sacrifice of
the minority veterans of our Armed Forces who served during World War II.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fourth-
day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand, and of the Independence
of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-fourth.


                                   WILLIAM J. CLINTON