The USA, Germany, Portugal, Panama, and Ireland. The Immortal Regiment will march today in these countries and many others. Thousands of people all over the world remember their relatives who fought in WWII. The memorial events took place yesterday in many US cities.
Valentin Bogdanov joined the Immortal Regiment in New York.
With the song "Zhuravli" playing in the background, hundreds of white balloons fly up into the sky. Poignant chords conclude the moment of silence at the columns, situated in New York's Battery Park, with the names of those who died in WWII. Directly across from the Statue of Liberty, the participants of the Immortal Regiment were met by the veterans.
98-year-old Bill Monroe couldn't march with the others. The former sergeant, who landed in Normandy on D-Day and then even translated for de Gaulle himself, can barely move unassisted nowadays. In memory of those days, when the Allies fought the fascists together the American veteran brought a photo of his comrade-in-arms.
Bill Monroe: I'm hoping, before I pass away, to see a world of peace.
- Can our countries, the USA and Russia, act together, just as back in WWII?
- Yes! We should. We should! I welcome that.
The New York government decided similarly, and unlike the Washington, politicians decided not to take part in the "witch hunt".
Igor Kochan, representative of "Russian Youth of America": “The local governments do not act like the political elite, often acting against the opinion of the president and others. When we prepared this march, we communicated very much with the police, the local government, with state senators, and we met only support and understanding from every one of them.”
This is the fourth time the march takes place in New York. But this Immortal Regiment is the largest. Almost 2,000 people stretched along the piers on the Hudson River. A plane with the ribbon of Saint George accompanies them in the sky. This march has become the largest in scope across the United States The Immortal Regiment marches in twenty US municipalities, not only large cities but also small towns from Alabama to California.
The march in the US capital began on Pennsylvania Ave and went past the White House. Then the participants of the event went to the WWII memorial. The Russian ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov was among those laying flowers.
Tim Rush came to Washington from the neighboring state of Virginia. He brought the photo of his uncle Alan Pifer, who was among the reconnaissance troops who on May 5th,1945 engaged in a fight with the Waffen-SS soldiers guarding the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp.
Tim Rush: "But the reason I came, is because it's so important to specify the points of cooperation between the USA and Russia, especially now, when America so disgustingly smears Russia. I think it's time for a positive perception".
This point of view is supported in Boston, where wartime songs were played yesterday, and in the other end of the United States, in Denver, Colorado. The Immortal Regiment marched there too. San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Orlando, Houston, and Detroit will also join the march today.
Valentin Bogdanov, Alexandr Khristenko, Ivan Utkin and Nikolay Koskin, Vesti, USA.
