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FOIA Number: 2006-0458-F
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FOIA:
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This is not a textual record. This iJ used as an
J. Clinton
administrative marker by the Williabt
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Presidential Library Staff.
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Collection/Record Group:
Clinton Presidential Records
Subgroup/Office of Origin:
Communications
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Series/Staff Member:
Don Baer
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Subserles:
OA/ID Number:
10140
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Folder Title:
D Day Drafts and Documents for Remarks at Utah Beach 6/6/94
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REMARKSOF I
PRESIDENT WILLIAMJ. CLINTON
Utah Beach
June 6, 1994
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.
�1
We have gathered. to remember the I Americans who
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stormed this beach for freedom and never came
home. We pay tribute to what a generation of heroes
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.
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I
won here. But let us also recall what was lost here.
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We must never forget that thousands
of individuals
.
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•
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gave everything they were or might have become, so
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that freedom might live.
�2
The loss along this coastline numbs :us still: In one
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u.s.
company alone, 197 of 205 men were
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.
.I
slaughtered in just ten minutes. Hundreds of young
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men died before they could struggle twenty feet into
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I
the red-tinged tide. Thousands uponI thousands of
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I
American, Canadian and Briti__sh tro?ps · were killed
~---.
I
or wounded on that one, brutal day J
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But in the face of that mayhem emerged a confident
.
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I
clarity, born of relentless training aijd the guiding·
light of a just cause.
�i
•
3
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J
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I
.
Here, at Utah Beach, with the U.S. jArmy's
4t~
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I
Division in the lead, the Allies unleashed their
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democratic fury on the Nazi armies. I Though many
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of them landed in the wrong place, they found their
•
I
way. When one commanding officer, Russell "Red"
I
Reeder, discovered the error, he saitl: "It doesn't
matter.
We know where to go."
�4
.
I
Here to help point the way were the fighters of the
.
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I
I
French Resistance.
Let us never forget how much
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I
those who lived under the Nazi fist did to make DI
Day possible. For the French, D-Dax was the 1,453rd
!
day of occupation. Throughout those terrible days,
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I
I
I
the people along this coast kept
fait~.
Whether
gathering intelligence, carving out esbape routes for
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I
Allied soldiers or destroying enemy supplies lines,
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they kept freedom's flame alive.
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I'
-
I
--~-----
�5
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The price was terribly high. Thousantls were
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executed. Thousands more died in cbncentration
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·camps.
To the loved ones of all those who died, no matter
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I
what their nationality, the statistics qannot capture
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the loss. Only one number matters: One husband
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•
who· could never be replaced·. One best friend who
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never came home. One father who would never play
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I
with his child again.
�6
One of those fathers, who died on D-Day, had
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I
I
written a letter home to his wife andI their daughter
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barely a month before the invasion. i"I
sincerely
pray
I
.
that if you fail to hear from me for ~ while, you will
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I
recall the words of the Gospel, 'A little while and
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I
you shall not see me and again a
litt~e
whHe ·and you
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I
shall see me.' But in your thoughts I shall always be
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I
and you in mine."
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I
•
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He was right. They will always be with us. To honor
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them, we must remember.
,
�7
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The people of this coast understand.
Just beyond
!
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this beach is the town of St. Mere- E~lise. There,
I
brave American paratroopers floated into a tragic
I
ambush on D-Day. And there, the s~rvivors rallied to
complete their mission. The mayor'f wife, Simone
Reynaud, wrote the families of the
~,
".._.........
~mericans
who
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had faught and died freeing her villJge. And she kept
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I
on writing, every week for the rest of her life, until
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she died six years ago.
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.
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_c_____
-----------
--
.
�8
Her son Henri-Jean Reynaud
carrie~
on her v:igil
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I
now. And he has vowed never to
fo~get,
saying: "I
I
will dedicate myself to the memory of their sacrifice
for as long as I live."
0
I
We must do no less. Then we must parry on their
I
work, turning the pain of loss into
t~e
power of
I
I
redemption, so that 50 or 100 or 1,000 years from
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I
now, those who bought our liberty with their lives
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will never be forgotten.
�1
We stand on sacred soil. Fifty years ago at this
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place, a miracle of liberation began. On that
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morning, democracy's forces landed to end the
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enslavement of Europe.
At around 1/ am, Lt.
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Colonel James Earl Rudder, 2nd Ranger Battalion,
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United States Army, led 224 men orlto the beaches
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below, and up these unforgiving cliffs. Bullets and
grenades came down upon them. Bpt by a few
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minutes after 7, here, exactly here, tpe first Rangers
.
stood. Today, let us ask them to stand again.
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Corporal Ken Bargmann was one o~ them, and he
sits among us now. He had just celJbrated his 20th
.
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birthday out in the Channel -- a youpg man like all
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the rest of them, cold and wet, far from home,
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preparing for the challenge of his life.
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�REMARKS OF. I
PRESIDENT WILLIAMJ. ClLINTON
I
Utah Beach
June 6, 1994
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We have gathered to remember the Americans who
I
I
never came home. Today, on this beach and in
I
America, in France, and around the world, we pay
1
II
tribute to what a generation of herods won here. But,
at this moment, let us also recall what was lost here.
I
I
We must never forget that thousands! of individuals
gave thtlir lives, their fatttf@s;-iV"erytij.ing they were or
I
might have become, so that freedom might live.
1
I
The loss along this coastline numbs us still: In one
1
I
U.S. company alone, 197 of 205 men were
I
slaughtered in just ten minutes.
1
�I
2
~
- ---
I
Hundreds of young men died before they could
1
I
struggle twenty feet into the red-tinged tide. All told,
~
.,l
1
~ /}}
I
:
.
I
some 5,000 American, Canadian andi British troops
I
J
~
were killed or wounded on that one, brutal day.
1
But in the face of that mayhem emerged a confident
I
clarity, born of relentless training and
the guiding
I
light of a just cause.
I
I
I
Here, at Utah Beach, with the U.S.
~rmy's
4th
'
I
Division in the lead, the Allies unleashed their
democratic fury on the Nazi armies.: Though
·
~crM CUuLv- Yn~e[)
landed
terrain, they found
~wn
I
~";> i'*'t
·
their~
I
When one commanding officer, Rus,sell "Red"
I
Reeder, discovered the error, he saip: "It doesn't
matter.
We know where to go."
. ~ ~e
- -
--------
1
Lu---S4J; ~
w~
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _________L_
GJy
P~~
.
_ _ , _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
�3
I
Here to help _point the way were the : fighters of the
I
French Resistance.
Let us never forget how· much
those who lived under the Nazi fist did
to make D,
i
Day possible. For the French, D-Day was the 1,453rd
•
I
•
I
!
day of occupation. Throughout those terrible days,
the people along this coast kept
I
fait~.
gathering intelligence, carving out
Whether it was
e~cape
I
routes for
Allied soldiers or destroying enemy supply lines, they
1
I
kept freedom's flame alive.
The price was terribly high. Thousarlds were
I
executed. Thousands more died in
~oncentration
-
camps.
I
---------------------
------~__L______
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ' -
�4
I
To the loved ones of all those who died, no matter
I
.
what their nationality, the statistics cknnot capture
I
I
the loss. Only one number matters: 0ne husband
1
who could never be replaced. One b~st friend who
I
I
never came home. One father who would never play
I
with his child again.
I
I
One of those fathers, who died on ~-Day, had
written a letter home to his wffe andl their daughter
I
barely a month before the invasion. PI sincerely pray
I
that if you fail to hear
from me for aI while, you will
.
I
I
recall the words of the Gospel, 'A little while and
I
you shall not see me and again a little while and you
.
I
shall see me.' But in your thoughts ] shall always be .
I
and you in mine."
�5
He was right. They will always be with us. To
~onor
I
them, we must remember.
The people of this coast understand ! that. Just
I
I
.
beyond this beach is the town of St. Mere-Eglise.
1
I
!
There, on D-Day, brave American paratroopers
I
floated into a tragic ambush. And tllere, the survivors
I
rallied to complete their mission. The mayor's wife,
-
I
Simone Re aud, wrote the families of the Americans
I
z-;:: -f'<S <JfJ-, ""-"'- c9--_
who hadA u1~u 11eeing her village.
I
A~d
•
she kept on
I
writing, every week for the rest of h~r life, until she
died six years ago.
I
I
Her son Henri-Jean Renaud carries on her vigil now.
1
And he has vowed never to forget,
----------
~aying:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___j___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .
�6
I
I
"I will dedicate myself
to the memoryI of their
.
sacrifice for as long as I live."
I
We must do no less. Then we .must ~arry
on their
I
work, turning the pain of loss into t~e power of
I
redemption. If we d}our j988
.
.
right~en
I
50 or 100
'
or 1,000 years from now, those who pought · our
I
I
liberty with their lives will never be ~orgotten..
I
�.
(
Ttlll Of "ICEJPT
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�MIHIJII OF •aaa%DIH2 WILLIAM J.
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Ne stand here today on this solemn aheJ.t ot s~nct 1n h~uur: U1 QUl:
fallen brothers and of our soldiers' triumph. : we stand in honor
of their courage and their strength, their valor and their cause.
A half century aqo, the men of the 4th 01vis1Jn landea 1n this
to seize a toe-hold on a continent shro~ded by tyranny.
They were boys .from Kanaae and New York, Georgia and California.
They came from cities and towns and farms and;factories. They
were old and young, fathers and sons. They were raw ~ecruits and
seasoned veterans. They were the hope and the m.ueole and the
pla~e
t~ce
ot: Merica.
i
And they were not alone. With them on tn1s b~ach ~t.oo" the
fliers and the seamen, the nuraee and the engineera. And the
schoolchildren and the veterans, the teachers1and the farmers,
the munitions workers and the churcn-qoer5.
.
I
Backed by Allies and by ·columns ot their re11ow l\llter1canet uuu
bound by duty to their brothers in arms and t~ their oountr{, the
men of the 4th Division endured. Through pai~ and eweat, b ood
and teara, they marched and fought and drove back theit fo~.
I
None was braver on that day than sr1gao1er Gener~l Teooy
Roosevelt, Jr. He had insisted that General 9mar Bradley l•t hi~
l~nd in the first wave with his men.
wavinq his cane, and
yelling at the top of his voice, he hustled wave after wave ~f
soldiers off their landing crafts and up the beach. He also made
one of those fateful de~isions that helped sp~ll the outcome on
this day of daye. The land1nq craft had drifted off course and
were coming ashore south of their tar;•ts. Instead of moving
troops up the btach to the planned inland causeways, Roosevelt
made a choice -~ his troops would advance fro~ where they stood.
''We'll start the war from here, • he said. And so it is at thia
point that the men of the 4th Division began to roll back the
heavy cloak of oppression that shrouded this bontinent.
I
I
i
From here, the brave men who sit with us today, and those who
never came home, be9an tne1r charge. They moved inland, linkingup with the paratrooper& of the 82nd and lOlst Divisions. They
met their foe in flooded plains and hedgerows.. But there, behind
the fire of their enemy,· they found open atll$1. They found
welcoming No~ans, happy finally to be free. 1They found members
of the French resistance -- people like Guillaume Mercader, who
had fought the .Germans stealthily for years, derailing trains,
cutting phone lines, passing information, blowinq up bridges; and
spiriting downed
. Allied pilots to safety. WeiI still find those
open arma to d •1•
I
I
I
I
�.
I
.•
want ~o snare witn you a story. Many ot you
know of the aitborne drop ~t st. Mere-E911se,: lUSt aentnd this
~each.
You know or Private John ~tee1e wno caught his parachute
and !ouna n1maelf hang1ng froa the enuren ste~ple. Private
Steele survived tne 1and1ng, but many or his fellow troopers did
not -- many were r1ddleCl with bullets as tl'\er floated down toward
the town.
Before 1 close
1
1
I
I
Simone Renaud was marr1ec1 to ~he mayor or st.·. Mere-Egltse. After
ttle f1C:Jht1nq haa quteted., she t.ook it upon he~rselt to wr1tt to
all the families Of the Ame~1can troopers who haa died freeing
her v111age. And she kept on writing -- every week until ehe
passed away six years ago. 11er son Henr1-~·ean, the pharma~ist 1n
st Mere-Eglise,·has carried on her tradition. He writes the.
letters and weleomes veterans as thef return.\ He worries tha·t
ooon tne veterans will De too 010 or too infirm to come. But, he
says: .. wnen un~y can no 1onc1er come, I will gp speak to them in
America. I will dedicate myself to tne memory of their sacrifice
for as long as I live."
:
1
Ne must aed1cate ourselves to
ano nonor!ng the1r courage ana their aacrit1ce. Th~
men who fou9ht. and d1ed here gave their 11vesl so that we m1gnt
live free. •• must carry on trlet.t· crusade.
~~d
that is what we must do.
reme~er1ng
1
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�SENT BY: MARATHONE BUS I NESS SVC; 5-2 8-94 ;
FfrX
8: 00 :MARATHONE B N'ESS svc~
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77 I h/-tJ
I
UTAH Beach 6 June 1994
I
President Clinton, Distinguished Guests,
Veterans,
Friends and, moat especially, those of us who were Veterans
ot the UTAH Beach invasion 50 years ago:
!
The invasion force here at UTAH, under the command
of General Barton, was the 4th Division Group, which included my attached regiment. The battalion !n which I was a
rifle company commander was on the attack t~ansport, the
uss Susan B. Anthony which hit a mine and quickly sank. A
special memorr is my reporting this ainkinq to General Barton since it nvolved one of his battalions. we should
also note that in just a very few hours the famous 4th Division regimental commander, Col. "Red 11 Reeder--who lost a
leg in the invasion--will be introducing Vice President
Gore at the Amphitheater in washington, DC.
1
1
All of us are here today to focus on a unique historic event that traneoende nationality, cu~rent w~rld
difficulties, politics and individual concerns and beliefs.
We are here for one great reason, to rememb~r and to salute
the successful efforts of SO years ago by soldiers, sailors
and airmen, many of whom gave their lives o~ these beaches,
these seas and the air overhead, in the o-oay invasion in
order to liberate our first great ally, Fraqce, and western
Europe,
1
To represent the United States of ~erica and to
speak for our country on this solemn and es~ecially historic occ~sion it is my great honor on behalf of all the veterans who p~rticipated in the invasion to p1esent to you
and to the millions who are watching this event around the
world, the ~resident of the United States.
Mr.
l;)~eside,.,
....
1
/Jfl-}t:G~. fr,~k/y~J
')03-6,s--3:?SJF~r~: fT~
·; #
�
Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Don Baer
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Office of Communications
Don Baer
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1994-1997
Is Part Of
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<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36008" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7431981" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Identifier
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2006-0458-F
Description
An account of the resource
Donald Baer was Assistant to the President and Director of Communications in the White House Communications Office. The records in this collection contain copies of speeches, speech drafts, talking points, letters, notes, memoranda, background material, correspondence, reports, excerpts from manuscripts and books, news articles, presidential schedules, telephone message forms, and telephone call lists.
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
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537 folders in 34 boxes
Text
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Paper
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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D Day Drafts and Documents for Remarks at Utah Beach 6/6/94
Creator
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Office of Communications
Don Baer
Identifier
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2006-0458-F
Is Part Of
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Box 28
<a href="http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/assets/Documents/Finding-Aids/2006/2006-0458-F.pdf" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7431981" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
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William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
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Adobe Acrobat Document
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Reproduction-Reference
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1/12/2015
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42-t-7431981-20060458F-028-007-2014
7431981