On President George W. Bush

Chronologically, this letter comes much later, but Liepa found it now, so I will go ahead and post it.

As mentioned earlier, Vaiva was asked by the U.S. State Department to be the official translator for President George W. Bush when he visited Lithuania in 2002. I know that there are still a great many Bush haters out there, and I have my own issues with him, but this gesture that Bush made for Lithuania trumped everything for us (not to mention picking Vaiva for the trip). Plus, he then forged ahead with NATO membership for Lithuania, which was completion of the story arc begun so slowly under Bush's father.

Below is Vaiva's letter to the President after Lithuanian Independence Day in 2003.

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
February 18, 2003

Dear Mr. President,

I am taking the liberty of writing to you with a note of personal gratitude for your leadership.

Today Jacques Chirac said that the European Union candidates from Eastern Europe should “shut up” rather than support the U.S. position on Iraq. I know how surprised the French leader must have been that Eastern Europe has an opinion, and that it is quite independent of his own desires. I know also how much his words rankle in Eastern Europe, since for so long we were literally “shut up” by the Soviet Union.

I am the U.S. interpreter who accompanied you during your visit to Vilnius, Lithuania in November of 2002 after the NATO summit, who had the honor of standing next to you and to President Adamkus as he presented you with the medal of Great Duke Vytautas the Great. Later that day, I repeated after you the words that you spoke in Town Hall square: “The recent history of the Baltic States truly is a miracle”.

That day was among the most remarkable of my life. As a child of Lithuanian-American parents, I have long been a political activist, working to raise awareness and speed momentum for independence for the Baltic States. Still, the events of 1990 came even more rapidly and were even more triumphant than we could have imagined. Freedom! And all the responsibility that comes with it, the responsibility to become, in President Adamkus’ words “free persons, an open society, a secure state.”

This hasn’t come to Lithuania simply or easily, but we are determined people. I worked in Vilnius at The Ministry of Education and Science for four years (from 1998 to 2002) as vice-minister and am witness to the enormity of change that Lithuania is undergoing. Social, economic, political and cultural change. It was part of my job when modernizing the curriculum and the educational system to help make certain that there are certain things we never do change: our commitment to Western values, our respect for the individual, our work ethic, our love of freedom.

Mr. President, you made a tremendous impact on Lithuania by coming to Vilnius and by giving the speech that you did. As I was standing in the Square and listening to the people chanting “Thank you, thank you” I was also imagining the people who never had a chance to thank you, who died in the Siberian north for simply professing those values that we all hold dear. I know, from hearing you speak to President Adamkus, that the history of the partisans in Lithuania holds meaning for you, as it does for me.

That is why I am sending you the enclosed book. It is in some ways a work of art, in some ways a testament. It is a simple memoir which recounts the life of a young girl exiled from Lithuania to the Laptev Sea, just north of the Arctic Circle, like thousands of others, for no reason at all but to sow terror.

Mr. President, we who have Lithuanian roots know exactly what terrorism is. And we are prepared to fight it.

When I saw this book in December (there are only 250 copies printed), it came to mind that I wanted to send it to you and Mrs. Bush. I know that Mrs. Bush was once upon a time a librarian, as was my mother. I am now back in Connecticut with my own family, interpreting upon occasion and acting as adviser to the Minister of Education, staying in touch with my former colleagues and political life in Lithuania. I am most grateful to Ambassador Usackas for agreeing to convey this letter and book to you, Mr. President.

The legacy of the Lithuanian partisans and deportees is a great treasure, albeit a demanding one. I know it is one that Lithuania carries with it into the future. During your speech at the Presidential palace (the White Hall), you said that NATO needed Lithuania just as much as Lithuania needs NATO. This is why. Lithuania cannot and will not ever forget what the tyrants of the world can and will do, if we allow them.

Respectfully yours,

Vaiva R. Vebra

325 Foot Hills Rd.
Durham, CT 06422