Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day, 2013 - Historical Half-Staff Archive

Historical notice: this observance has ended. This independent FORTISVEX resource preserves a past presidential proclamation; it is not a government notice.

Remembering those who did not return

President Obama's 2013 Memorial Day proclamation honors service members who died for their country and recognizes the families left behind. It places remembrance alongside continuing responsibilities to veterans, service members, and loved ones. The tribute asks readers to honor sacrifice through a commitment to liberty, justice, and peace.

The document's title, Prayer for Peace, reflects the congressional request it cites: a Memorial Day proclamation inviting the nation to pray for permanent peace. It also recognizes the National Moment of Remembrance as a separate observance. Both appear alongside the flag instructions in the full official text below.

Three times with different purposes

For May 27, 2013, the proclamation requests half-staff display until noon on government buildings, grounds, and naval vessels throughout the United States and areas under its jurisdiction and control. It also requests that people display the flag at half-staff at their homes for the customary forenoon period.

The hour beginning at 11 a.m. in each locality is designated for prayer. The National Moment of Remembrance begins at 3 p.m. local time. Neither time replaces the noon endpoint of the proclamation's half-staff request. Keeping these instructions separate helps readers understand the day's schedule accurately.

This archive entry uses May 24, the formal proclamation date. The observance fell on May 27, and the Federal Register published the document on May 30. This is a record of the 2013 observance, not a current half-staff alert.

Full official proclamation text

Proclamation 8987 of May 24, 2013 — Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day, 2013
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

Since our Nation’s earliest days, America has been blessed with an unbroken chain of patriots who have served our country with honor and distinction. From Concord to the Korengal, generations of brave warriors have fought for freedom across sand and snow, over mud and mountains, into lonely deserts and through crowded streets. Today, we pay tribute to those patriots who never came back—who fought for a home to which they never returned, and died for a country whose gratitude they will always have.

Scripture teaches us that ‘‘greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’’ On Memorial Day, we remember those we have lost not only for what they fought for, but who they were: proud Americans, often far too young, guided by deep and abiding love for their families, for each other, and for this country. Our debt to them is one we can never fully repay. But we can honor their sacrifice and strive to be a Nation equal to their example. On this and every day, we must meet our obligations to families of the fallen; we must uphold our sacred trust with our veterans, our service members, and their loved ones.

Above all, we can honor those we have lost by living up to the ideals they died defending. It is our charge to preserve liberty, to advance justice, and to sow the seeds of peace. With courage and devotion worthy of the heroes we remember today, let us rededicate ourselves to those unending tasks, and prove once more that America’s best days are still ahead. Let us pray the souls of those who died in war rest in eternal peace, and let us keep them and their families close in our hearts, now and forever.

In honor of all of our fallen service members, the Congress, by a joint resolution approved May 11, 1950, as amended (36 U.S.C. 116), has requested the President issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace and designating a period on that day when the people of the United States might unite in prayer. The Congress, by Public Law 106–579, has also designated 3:00 p.m. local time on that day as a time for all Americans to observe, in their own way, the National Moment of Remembrance.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Memorial Day, May 27, 2013, as a day of prayer for permanent peace, and I designate the hour beginning in each locality at 11:00 a.m. of that day as a time to unite in prayer. I also ask all Americans to observe the National Moment of Remembrance beginning at 3:00 p.m. local time on Memorial Day.

I request the Governors of the United States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the appropriate officials of all units of government, to direct that the flag be flown at half-staff until noon on this Memorial Day on all buildings, grounds, and naval vessels throughout the United States and in all areas under its jurisdiction and control. I also request the people of the United States to display the flag at half-staff from their homes for the customary forenoon period.

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

BARACK OBAMA

Official federal proclamation text from Federal Register pages 32539–32540. Page headings and line wrapping are omitted for readability; the signature is represented by the name above.

Verify the official documents

Read or download the official proclamation PDF from GovInfo · Read the Federal Register record

Browse related historical notices in the Presidential Half-Staff Archive.

Signature page from the official published proclamation

Select the published page to open the complete official PDF.

Preparing a remembrance display

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