Proclamation 5540—General Pulaski Memorial Day, 1986

On October 11, the United States celebrates General Pulaski Memorial Day, an opportunity for all Americans to reflect on Casimir Pulaski's achievements as a leader and a soldier in our country's struggle for freedom in the Revolutionary War.

General Pulaski died on October 11, 1779, from wounds suffered while he led a cavalry charge during the siege of Savannah. Forced to flee his homeland of Poland after struggling for his country's independence, he generously put his skills as a soldier and military tactician at the service of our fledgling Nation.

General Pulaski asked to be buried at sea, that the waves might carry him back to his native Poland. Polish Americans recognize and revere his abiding ties to a Poland where faith, sacrifice, and selfless toil for liberty are the bedrock of that nation's proud traditions. General Pulaski's heroism is an inspiration as well to all Americans. He recognized no barriers of culture, language, or history in humanity's universal search for individual rights and for political and religious liberty.

General Pulaski's spirit survives today—in our hearts and in the rights enshrined in our Constitution. We can enjoy our freedoms because of the enduring vision for which Casimir Pulaski fought and died. We stand for these rights in our dialogue with other nations, where each released political prisoner, every gain for a free press or freedom of worship, or any progress toward freedom of speech and assembly is a new victory in the struggle General Pulaski undertook more than 200 years ago.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, 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 Saturday, October 11, 1986, as General Pulaski Memorial Day, and I direct the appropriate government officials to display the flag of the United States on all government buildings on that day. In addition, I encourage the people of the United States to commemorate this occasion as appropriate throughout the land.

In Witness Whereof I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eleventh.

RONALD REAGAN