Proclamation 2842—Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day, 1949

On Memorial Day each year it is our custom to pay homage to our heroic dead who have sacrificed their lives in the cause of liberty and peace.

This sacred day is a fitting occasion on which the people of our Nation, all of whom, directly or indirectly, have been bereft by war's terrible toll, may appeal to Almighty God for help in turning the steps of the world to the paths of permanent peace.

These paths are long and tortuous, and thus far mankind has not had the wisdom to find the way to an enduring peace.

We are humbly aware that only through divine guidance can we hope to attain the understanding necessary for averting wars and achieving a peaceful world.

Now, Therefore, I, Harry S. Truman, President of the United States of America, pursuant to a resolution of the Congress approved May 26, 1949, do hereby call upon the people of the United States to observe Memorial Day, Monday, May 30, 1949, by praying, each in accordance with his religious faith, for a permanent peace. And I designate the hour beginning at eleven o'clock in the morning of that day, Eastern Daylight Saving Time, as a period in which all our people may unite in prayer for a permanent peace, and for the bestowal of wisdom and patience, to the end that we may be instruments of God in achieving and preserving harmony on earth.

I also request the newspapers, radio stations, and all other media of information to join in the observance of Memorial Day, 1949, as a day of prayer for peace, and in the collective Nation-wide prayer on the morning of that day.

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 26th day of May in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and forty-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and seventy-third.

HARRY S. TRUMAN

By the President:

JAMES E. WEBB,

Acting Secretary of State.