Reagan

As Tete noted below, President Reagan was our hero. Here's the letter Mama sent to Nancy Reagan in 2004.

Mrs. Nancy Reagan
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum
40 Presidential Drive
Simi Valley, CA 93065 June 11, 2004

Dear Mrs. Reagan,

On behalf of the nearly one million Americans of Lithuanian heritage, I would like to express my deepest condolences to you and your family on the passing of your husband, and America’s great leader, President Ronald Reagan.

President Reagan played a critical role in the liberation of the Captive Nations. Your husband was the first president to consistently speak out on behalf of Lithuania and its people, their great thirst for democracy and freedom. Since the founding of the United Nations, President Reagan was the first and only president to prepare a special letter on behalf of Lithuania and her Baltic sisters, and direct our U.N. Ambassador to send copies to each delegation, including that of the Soviet Union. One of your husband’s enduring legacies, the National Endowment for Democracy, played a vital role in helping the nation of our heritage speed its democratic revolution and free itself of Soviet occupation.

I have spoken to hundreds who fought for human rights during the darkest days of the Cold War, and all of them stressed the importance of President Reagan’s strong voice and moral courage in supporting them through those hardest of times. He was not afraid to speak truth to the powerful. Today, your husband is one of the most respected historic figures in the independent, democratic Republic of Lithuania.

Let me add a tiny, personal detail. Every four years Lithuanians from around the world gather to celebrate their heritage with a Folk Dance Festival. I’ll always remember the unexpected, electric thrill that passed through the crowd in Cleveland, in 1984, when President Reagan took a few minutes from his demanding schedule to honor us with a personal telephone call, broadcast to the assembly. President Reagan’s attention to many such human details, great and small, set him apart in the pantheon of our 20th century leaders.

With deepest respect,

Vaiva Vebra
President
Lithuanian American Community, Inc.