65 years after liberation

With an orchestra playing Glenn Miller's foot-tapping signature tune "In the Mood," a convoy of World War II-era Jeeps arrived April 30 in glorious morning sunshine outside the U.S. Embassy in Prague before departing to Plzeň to mark the 65th anniversary of the city's liberation. Just after the convoy's arrival, the Czech and U.S. national anthems were played before Czech and American soldiers, both past and present, chatted with the crowd and posed for photographs. The "Convoy of Liberty" commemorated the role of the United States role in the liberation of Czechoslovakia from the Nazis, a fact played down by the communist authorities before 1989. Plzeň is holding a Freedom Festival May 1-6. On May 9, 1945, the Soviet Army arrived in Prague after an uprising by Czechoslovak insurgents.

Tom Clifford can be reached at
tclifford@praguepost.com