[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 244 (Tuesday, December 21, 1999)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 71629-71630]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-33277]
[[Page 71627]]
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Part VIII
The President
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Proclamation 7261--55th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge
Proclamation 7262--Wright Brothers Day, 1999
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 244 / Tuesday, December 21, 1999 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 71629]]
Proclamation 7261 of December 16, 1999
55th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
By the winter of 1944, the United States and our Allies
had turned the tide of the Second World War. Allied
forces had liberated the Italian peninsula and were
gaining ground in France and the Low Countries. In mid-
December, in a desperate attempt to halt this steady
advance, Adolf Hitler launched a furious and massive
counteroffensive. On December 16, 29 German divisions
flooded the Allied line in the Ardennes Forest region
of Belgium and Luxembourg. The Battle of the Bulge had
begun.
Facing superior enemy numbers, rugged terrain, and
bitter weather, the American troops at first fell back.
But their determination to defeat the Nazis never
wavered. For 6 weeks, U.S. soldiers responded to fierce
German offensives with equally determined
counterattacks, refusing to succumb to the Nazi
onslaught. The siege of Bastogne in Belgium remains an
enduring symbol of their indomitable spirit. At that
strategic crossroads, a small detachment of the 101st
Airborne Division and other attached troops were
encircled. When called upon to surrender by the much
larger German force, Brigadier General Anthony
McAuliffe dismissed the demand with his legendary one-
word reply: ``Nuts.'' Against all odds, he and his men
held firm during the siege until reinforcements arrived
and helped halt the German offensive at a critical
point in the Battle.
Inevitably, the spirit, toughness, valor, and resolve
of the U.S. forces led to victory. By late January of
1945, the American and Allied counterattack had
succeeded in pushing back the Nazi forces, eliminating
the threat of further German offensives and ultimately
sealing the fate of the Nazi regime. But this victory
was costly. At the end of the Battle of the Bulge, some
19,000 Americans lay dead, and thousands more were
wounded, captured, or missing in action.
Now, more than half a century later, we still stand in
awe of the courage and sacrifice of the more than
600,000 U.S. soldiers and airmen who fought that epic
battle. These seemingly ordinary Americans achieved
extraordinary things. Leaving their homes, their
families, and their civilian lives behind them, they
stepped forward to wage a crusade for freedom. They
laid the foundations of the peace and security we enjoy
today and planted the seeds of democracy that now are
bearing fruit throughout Europe. Many of these heroes
and patriots have gone to their final rest; but their
service, their sacrifice, and their achievements will
live forever in the memories and hearts of their fellow
Americans.
The Congress by House Joint Resolution 65, has
authorized and requested the President to issue a
proclamation honoring the veterans of the Battle of the
Bulge.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, do hereby proclaim the period
of December 16, 1999, to January 25, 2000, as a time to
commemorate the 55th anniversary of the Battle of the
Bulge. I call upon the people of the United States to
express our profound gratitude to the veterans of the
Battle of the Bulge and to honor them with appropriate
programs, ceremonies, and activities.
[[Page 71630]]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
sixteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two
hundred and twenty-fourth.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 99-33277
Filed 12-20-99; 10:59 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P
