President Obama Signs Resolution Granting U.S. Citizenship Posthumously to Kazimierz Pułaski

10 November 2009

Casimir Pulaski

On Friday, November 6, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law a Joint Resolution (H.J.Res. 26), which proclaims Kazimierz Pułaski (known as Casimir Pulaski in the United States) to be an honorary citizen of the United States posthumously.  General Casimir Pulaski was a Polish-born hero of the American Revolution and is known as the time-honored “Father of the American Cavalry.”  Pulaski, a native of Poland, fought on the side of the colonists against the British in the American Revolution.  He fought valiantly in defense of freedom in several battles, including Charleston and Brandywine, where he saved George Washington’s life.  Pulaski has been honored throughout U.S. history.  In September, 1929, Congress designated October 11 as Pulaski Day to be observed by Presidential Proclamation.  It also authorized the Post Office to issue a Pulaski commemorative stamp.  In 1973, Illinois designated the first Monday of March as Pulaski Commemorative day in Illinois and in 1986 declared the day to be a state holiday.

Before Pulaski, only six people in history have ever earned the honor of being declared honorary citizens of the United States including General Lafayette, Winston Churchill, and Mother Teresa.  Pulaski is the seventh person to receive this great honor.  His name is well-known and recognized in the United States.  Numerous U.S. cities, counties, parks, streets and highways are named after him including the Pulaski Bridge in New York, the General Pulaski Skyway in New Jersey, and the "Casimir Pulaski Memorial Park" in Rhode Island.  Even a U.S. Navy submarine USS Casimir Pulaski is named after this great Polish-American hero.

Kazimierz Pułaski was the son of Józef Pułaski, member of the Polish-Lithuanian nobility.  He was a skilled military commander and politician.  In February 1768, together with his father, Pułaski became one of the co-founders of the Bar Confederation fighting against Russian domination of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.  When the Bar Confederation was overpowered in 1772, Pułaski was exiled to France and was later recruited for service in America.  In Paris, he met the American envoy to France, Benjamin Franklin, and offered his services to General George Washington.

Benjamin Franklin recommended that General George Washington accept Kazimierz Pułaski as a volunteer in the American cavalry and said that Pulaski "was renowned throughout Europe for the courage and bravery he displayed in defense of his country's freedom."  After arriving in America, Kazimierz Pułaski wrote to General Washington, "I came here, where freedom is being defended, to serve it, and to live or die for it." As a brigadier general of cavalry in the American army, he successfully defended Charleston, South Carolina, against British attack, and later died during the siege of Savannah, Georgia, on October 11, 1779.