Commemorative placard depicting
General
Blanchard, CINCUSAREUR (R) and Army General Ivanovskiy, CINCGSFG (L) appropriately
inscribed “In Commemoration of Our Meetings.”
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On 27 Apr 79, USMLM
hosted the annual reception commemorating the meeting of US and Soviet
troops on the Elbe River in April 1945, virtually ending organized German
resistance in World War II. The evening also recognized the thirty-second
anniversary of the signing of the Huebner-Malinin Agreement, establishing
USMLM. The course of the evening saw Army General lvanovskiy, CINCGSFG,
declare that the Torgau Celebration must, in fact, he held annually so
as to bring about increased mutual understanding between the military representatives
of the Soviet Union and the United States. That statement agreed with the
position of General Blanchard, CINCUSAREUR.
Other US General
Officers attending were: LtGen Bellis, Vice CINCUSAFE, MG Haldane, COS
USAREUR, MG Atkeson, DCSI USAREUR, MG Benedict, USCOB, and BG Grist, Dep
J-3 USEUCOM. Soviet General Officers also included COL GEN Grinkevich,
COS GSFG, LTG Yashkin, Dep to CINCGSFG for Opns/Tng, LTG Kushnikov, Chief
Engr GSFG, LTG Kudrik, Dep CG 16 Air Army, and MG Vorobey’ev, DCSI GSFG.
A total of nine other Soviet officers from HQ GSFG, SERB, and SMLM-F attended.
In special commemoration
of the occasion, USMLM provided large pictures of a previous meeting between
General Blanchard and Army General Ivanovskiy appropriately inscribed “In
Commemoration of Our Meetings.” Both CINC’s signed the pictures, each keeping
one as a memento of their five previous meetings. |
