Honoring the Victims of the Tragedy at Fort Hood, Texas — Historical Half-Staff Proclamation, 2009

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

A national tribute to the Fort Hood victims

Proclamation 8451 expressed sympathy for the service members, civilians, and families affected by the tragedy at Fort Hood, Texas. The opening tribute remembered the fallen, acknowledged the wounded, and recognized the suffering of those around them. The flag directive that followed gave that expression of national mourning a visible form.

This was an event-specific presidential order. Unlike a proclamation marking an annual observance, it set a particular endpoint for the mourning period. Preserving the original text helps distinguish this 2009 directive from other notices concerning Fort Hood or later acts of remembrance.

Where and how long the order applied

The order specified the White House, public buildings and grounds, military posts and naval stations, and federal naval vessels in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States, its territories, and possessions. It extended the same period to U.S. embassies, legations, consular offices, and other specified facilities abroad.

The endpoint was sunset on Tuesday, November 10, 2009. The proclamation did not state a numerical clock time for sunset. Its formal date was November 6, while the Federal Register published it on November 12, after the stated endpoint. Using the publication date as the start of the flag observance would therefore misrepresent the document.

Full official proclamation text

Proclamation 8451 of November 6, 2009 — Honoring the Victims of the Tragedy at Fort Hood, Texas
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

Our Nation’s thoughts and prayers are with the service members, civilians, and families affected by the tragic events at Fort Hood, Texas. The brave victims, who risked their lives to protect their fellow countrymen, serve as a constant source of strength and inspiration to all Americans. We ask God to watch over the fallen, the wounded, and all those who are suffering at this difficult hour.

As a mark of respect honoring the victims of the tragedy at Fort Hood, Texas, I hereby order, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, Tuesday, November 10, 2009. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

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

BARACK OBAMA

Official federal proclamation text from Federal Register page 58529. Page headings and line wrapping are omitted for readability; the signature is represented by the name above.

Verify the official document

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

Find related historical directives in the Presidential Half-Staff Archive.

Signature page from the official published proclamation

Select the published page to open the official PDF.

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