[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 62 (Thursday, May 12, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E952]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          CZECHS APPRECIATE AMERICAN SACRIFICES FOR LIBERATION

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                            HON. JOE WILSON

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 12, 2005

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, on Friday, I was honored 
to join Congressman Jack Kingston as he led a delegation for a wreath 
laying and dedication of a monument in Pilsen, Czech Republic, to the 
veterans of the U.S. Army who liberated Western Bohemia of 
Czechoslovakia in May 1945.
  Czech President Vaclav Klaus presided with Prime Minister Jiri 
Paroubek and Pilsen Mayor Miroslav Kalous. The large double columns of 
the monument symbolizing Czech-American friendship were hailed by the 
U.S. Presidential delegation led by Veterans Administration Secretary 
Jim Nicholson. The American delegation was hosted by Ambassador William 
Cabaniss, a former Alabama State Senator, who delivered a letter from 
Congressman Spencer Bachus and Birmingham Rotarians to establish the 
city of Pilsen as the sister city of Birmingham, Alabama.
  The impressive monument corrects a distortion of history, where 
former communist oppressors bizarrely claimed that Americans had not 
been present and that the liberators were Soviet troops in American 
uniforms. Fortunately, the long suppressed truth is now clearly marked, 
proudly proclaiming ``Thank You America'' for the U.S. Army in May 
1945.
  On April 29, 2005, prior to attending the festivities, Diane Brown 
presented me the following article written by her neighbor Jana Culik 
of Chapin, South Carolina. Her story is an inspiring personal account 
of heroism and appreciation of the United States by the Czech people 
who now live in a liberated democracy that enjoys membership in NATO 
and the EU.

                             American Flag

                            (By Jana Culik)

       I think that the following little narrative should be 
     shared--it is about an American flag made by my mother, 
     Dagmar Pavlansky, in Czech Republic (former Czechoslovakia) 
     in the spring of 1945 at the end of the Second World War.
       I was a 6-year-old child at the time, and as such I could 
     not be trusted enough to be part of my parent's decision 
     concerning making flags--American, French, English and Soviet 
     representing four allies that the Czech people hoped to 
     welcome into their country. However, I remember that there 
     was a shortage of almost everything, especially of any kind 
     of cloth material and even thread sewing were not available. 
     After the war, when I was older, my mother told me that she 
     had to dye white bed sheets and go into the attic to rummage 
     through old magazines and newspapers to find pictures of the 
     flags. She had to work at night when my older sister and I 
     were asleep--what she was doing was a crime, it was against 
     the law of the occupants--the Nazis. I was told it was 
     punishable by death.
       Then there came May of 1945--the marvelous month when the 
     war in Europe ended and my Czechoslovakia (near Pilsen at 
     Blatna) was liberated by the American army. I will never 
     forget the night when I was awakened by my smiling parents in 
     company of three American soldiers. Our house was big enough 
     to become the unofficial meeting place for the officers who 
     were stationed in our little town. I remember my father, 
     Judr. Jan Pavlansky, who was a good pianist, playing ``Happy 
     days are here again'' and ``Roll out the barrels,'' and the 
     soldiers teaching us to dance the boogie-woogie. All the 
     soldiers were wonderful--friendly, helpful, and generous. My 
     love for the American flag started during those times, and it 
     has been a life long affair.
       I am not sure what happened to the other flags my mother 
     had made. Through the years of hardship when my country 
     became a part of the Easter Europe (the unlucky countries 
     ruled by the Soviet Regime) I was remembering the American 
     one. The flag kept reminding the people behind the Iron 
     Curtain that freedom and decency still existed in the world 
     even if they could not enjoy it themselves in almost 40 
     years.
       In August of 1968, when Czechoslovakia tried to free itself 
     and wanted to become a democratic, self-ruled country again, 
     it was overrun by Soviet tanks. My husband, Karel Culik, and 
     I immigrated to Canada. It took 22 years before we could go 
     back to visit Czechoslovakia. We went back in 1990 after the 
     Soviet bloc in Europe collapsed. By then we had moved to the 
     United States and were living in Chapin, South Carolina.
       When I returned to Czechoslovakia, my first ``quest'' was 
     to find the American flag of my childhood. Despite the fact 
     that my family had to move from place to place, the flag had 
     survived on the bottom of an old suitcase with other 
     cherished mementos given to use by the American soldiers in 
     1945.
       Nowadays the flag is here in Chapin. It is still one of my 
     most treasured possessions. Through the years, I have become 
     a collector of keepsakes related to special eras of my life. 
     It seems that the American flag or at least the symbol of it 
     has been present my whole life and it has now come full 
     circle--in 1945, then later on, and especially now the 
     American flag still stands for freedom.
       God bless America!




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