CHAPTER 787
STATE OF DELAWARE
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT
PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS, George Washington's advocacy of a "well established militia" and his statement that "able bodied young men might easily be enlisted or drafted to form a Corps in every state" capable of resisting any foreign invasion, sustained the spirit of volunteer service that had just defeated English tyranny and that since has become the noblest of American traditions ; and
WHEREAS, the National Guard, the direct-line descendant of the militia forces of which General Washington spoke, best exemplifies the life of that tradition today; now
THEREFORE, I, J. Caleb Boggs, Governor of the State of Delaware, do hereby proclaim that George Washington's birth date, on Wednesday, February 22, 1956, shall be observed as
NATIONAL GUARD MUSTER DAY
That day shall be dedicated in recognition of the National Guard for its selfless and heroic service not only in wars of this nation but in times of flood, fire and other disasters, and I urge all citizens to assist its officers and men in recruiting volunteers in the number required to keep it the "Palladium of our Security" which General Washington envisioned.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I, J. Caleb Boggs, Governor of the State of Delaware, have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the said State to be hereunto affixed at Dover, this
(Great Seal) Sixteenth day of February in the year of Our Lord One thousand nine hundred and fifty-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America, the one hundred and eightieth.
J. CALEB BOGGS, Governor JOHN N. McDOWELL, Secretary of State