US supporting idea of WW II veterans` meeting on Elbe.

WASHINGTON, October 7 (Itar-Tass) - U.S. authorities support the idea
of bringing together American and Russian veterans of World War II on the
banks of the River Elbe where they met the first time in April 1945, U.S.
special representative Christian Kennedy told Itar-Tass Tuesday.
This reunion of fellow-fighters will be timed for the 65th anniversary
since victory in the European theater of operations.
Kennedy said he had discussed the proposal with the Russian President'
s special representative for international cultural cooperation, Mikhail
Shvydkoi.
Kennedy believes this is a brilliant idea, since the 1945 meeting of
the American and Soviet soldiers was an event filled with especial
significance.
People in the U.S. remember very well the role that the USSR played in
delivering Europe from fascism, he said, adding that Shvydkoi and he had
agreed to scrutinize the opportunities for organizing a reunion of this
kind.
In the first place, the two sides will have to find the remaining
participants in the historic meeting and to see whether or not it will be
possible to bring them together near the German town of Torgau, the place
of the 1945 meeting, with the aid of 'German friends', Kennedy said.
A proposal to bring the American and Russian veterans together on the
Elbe became an unexpected pleasant surprise for Igor Belousovich, now 87,
a Russian by origin who has been living in the U.S. since the age he was
two.
He met the outbreak of the war as a serviceman in the U.S. regular
troops. When his unit came to the Elbe, a Soviet soldier who embraced him
there was surprised to hear Russian speech from him.
"This sounds like a very interesting idea," Belousovich told
Itar-Tass. "The thing is only a handful of veterans is still alive today."
He promised however that if the whole project comes true and if he
feels fit for it, he will certainly take part in next year's replay of the
meeting.
-0-kle