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Arkansas
WWII Vets and UAMS To Participate in Victory Day in Russia MARCH 20, 2002 (Little Rock) A UAMS medical exchange in Russia that provides educational assistance for the emerging reform of the Russian health-care system has produced a welcome but unexpected result. Russian officials have extended an historic invitation to honor Arkansas World War II veterans held in Nazi POW camps and liberated in 1945 by westward-advancing Russian soldiers. The Arkansas veterans will participate in Victory Day observances in Volgograd, Russia, during the week of May 9, 2002. Victory Day in Russia is the equivalent of U.S. Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Volgograd is the site of the very strategic Battle of Stalingrad during World War II. Contributions
from Arkansas donors will sponsor the travel of three WWII POW
veterans to Russia for the occasion.The goodwill trip will be
conducted under the auspices of the Area Health Education Program
based at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), with
Charles O. Cranford, D.D.S., M.P.A, Vice Chancellor for Regional
Programs, presiding. Veterans
accepting the invitation are Mr. Silas LeGrow of Cabot, Mr. Charley
Stringer of Arkadelphia, and Mr. Thomas Bonds of Ward. The
Arkansas-based staff of Senator Blanche Lincoln (D – Arkansas)
assisted in locating Arkansas WWII veterans liberated by Russian
soldiers more than 55 years ago. The Arkansas veterans owe much to their Russian liberators. Following horrific casualties at the Battle of Stalingrad, Russian soldiers participated in an assault that forced the German army to retreat to Berlin. Along the way, Russians liberated Allied POWs, including prisoners from Arkansas. The Arkansas POWs stated that they would not have survived without help from the Russian soldiers who shared food and supplies with them. After the war, Stalingrad was rebuilt and named Volgograd. Today it is a major industrial port of 1.3 million built along the banks of the Volga River in southern Russia. As official guests of the Governor of the state of Volgograd and the Mayor of the city of Volgograd, the Arkansas veterans will have the opportunity personally to thank Russian WWII veterans for their compassion and liberation at an official ceremony. The UAMS medical team also participated in Victory Day as guests of the city in May 2000. The Arkansas group presented a memorial wreath created and donated by Arkansas floral designers Linda Cain and Joyce Moore. As coordinator of the UAMS/VMA (Volgograd Medical Academy) partnership, Dr. Cranford placed the wreath at the Eternal Flame monument and Mother Russia statue where 50,000 citizens, veterans, and government dignitaries gathered for a Victory Day ceremony. Cranford also delivered a presidential message from President Bill Clinton, the first document of its kind since 1943 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt publicly expressed appreciation to Russian citizens and soldiers for their incredible sacrifices during WWII. Unfortunately, the 1943 letter from President Roosevelt addressed to Joseph Stalin was lost during the war and was never seen by Russian citizens in modern Volgograd. Cranford located the original draft of the Roosevelt document through the Hyde Park Presidential Library and presented a replica of the original letter to dignitaries in Volgograd. Russian
television coverage of the Arkansas activities on Victory Day 2000 was
replayed throughout the country for two weeks.
Because Arkansas WWII veterans will participate in 2002,
extensive media coverage in Russia is anticipated.
In addition to the Volgograd activities, the Russian veterans
organization plans to honor the Arkansas group in Moscow. Cranford also plans to take an album of letters and photographs from all 14 living Arkansas WWII veterans liberated by Russian soldiers. The album will be presented to the Stalingrad Battle Museum, and it will become a unique item in the museum’s collection. “While
the veterans’ project is not a part of the UAMS medical education
program in Russia funded by USAID,” Cranford says, “sometimes a
worthy project just comes down the path and seems like the right thing
to do. We are very pleased that the Governor of Volgograd asked us to
facilitate the Arkansas WWII veterans’ participation, and we are
grateful to the Arkansas donors who made it possible.
In Russia, this visit will be seen as a significant gesture of
goodwill. It is people-to-people diplomacy at its very best. This
reunion will be a very historic occasion in Russia.” The United States Agency for International Development and the American International Health Alliance funded the UAMS medical project. UAMS is highly regarded in Russia for sharing expertise in family medicine and primary care, now a major health-care focus in Russia. Cranford directs the activities of this international partnership. The Russian partner is Volgograd Medical Academy (VMA), headed by Dr. Vladimir Petrov, who has visited Arkansas on a number of occasions since the partnership began in 1993. Volgograd leaders determined that UAMS was the American health-care model they wanted to replicate in their region because of the similarities to Arkansas as an agricultural, rural region and because of its nationally acclaimed UAMS Area Health Education Centers (AHEC). # # # PR
Contact: Content
Contacts: 03/30/07 |
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