    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book I)]
    [May 9, 1995]
    [Pages 658-660]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Dedication of the Central Museum for the
    Great Patriotic War in Moscow, Russia
    May 9, 1995

        President Yeltsin, Mr. Prime Minister, Prime Minister Major--
    [inaudible]--Shevardnadze, Mr. Mayor--[inaudible]--the veterans of the
    Great Patriotic War. We come together today

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    as friends to celebrate our shared victory over fascism, to remember the
    sacrifice of those of you who made it possible, and to fulfill the
    promise of an enduring peace that shown so brightly, but all too
    briefly, 50 years ago today.
        Brave men and women from our nations fought a common enemy with
    uncommon valor. Theirs was a partnership forged in battle, strengthened
    by sacrifice, cemented by blood. Their extraordinary effort speaks to us
    still of all that is possible when our people are joined in a just
    cause.
        With me today is an American veteran of the Great War, Lieutenant
    William Robertson. As the war entered its final days, Lieutenant
    Robertson's patrol sighted troops led by Lieutenant Aleksander Sylvashko
    across the Elbe River. Crawling toward each other on the girders of a
    wrecked bridge, these two officers met at the midpoint and embraced in
    triumph. They exchanged photographs of wives, children, loved ones,
    whose freedom they had defended, whose future they would secure. The
    Americans did not speak Russian, and the Russians did not speak English,
    but they shared a language of joy.
        The Americans at the Elbe remember how their new Russian friends
    danced that night, but how their jubilation turned solemn, because each
    of them had lost someone, a family member, a loved one, a friend. One
    out of every eight Soviet citizens was killed, soldiers in battle;
    prisoners, by disease or starvation; innocent children who could find no
    refuge. In all of the 27 million people who lost their lives to the war,
    there were Russians and Belarussians, Uzbekhs and Jews, Ukrainians,
    Armenians, Georgians, and more. These numbers numb the mind and defy
    comprehension.
        I say to you, President Yeltsin, and to all the people of Russia and
    the other republics of the former Soviet Union, the cold war obscured
    our ability to fully appreciate what your people had suffered and how
    your extraordinary courage helped to hasten the victory we all celebrate
    today. Now we must all say, you wrote some of the greatest chapters in
    the history of heroism, at Leningrad, in the battle for Moscow, in the
    defense of Stalingrad, and in the assault on Berlin, where your country
    lost 300,000 casualties in only 14 days.
        I have come here today on behalf of all the people of the United
    States to express our deep gratitude for all that you gave and all that
    you lost to defeat the forces of fascism. In victory's afterglow, the
    dream of peace soon gave way to the reality of the cold war, but now
    Russia has opened itself to new freedoms. We have an opportunity and an
    obligation to rededicate ourselves today to the promise of that moment
    50 years ago when Europe's guns fell silent.
        Just as Russians and Americans fought together 50 years ago against
    the common evil, so today we must fight for the common good. We must
    work for an end to the awful savagery of war and the senseless violence
    of terrorism. We must work for the creation of a united, prosperous
    Europe. We must work for the freedom of all of our people to live up to
    their God-given potential. These are our most sacred tasks and our most
    solemn obligations.
        This is what we owe to the brave veterans who brought tears to our
    eyes when they marched together with such pride and courage in Red
    Square today. And this is what we owe to the generations of our children
    still to be born. Let us do our duty, as the veterans of World War II
    did theirs.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:55 p.m. at the Poklonnaya Gora Monument.
    In his remarks, he referred to President Boris Yeltsin of Russia, Prime
    Minister John Major of the United Kingdom, Chairman Eduard Shevardnadze
    of the Republic of Georgia, and Mayor Uri Luzhkov of Moscow.

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