I have a vague recollection of a news incident that I remembered reading about as a young Primary Six boy 27 years ago in 1983. I never quite remembered the names and actual circumstances of the story over the years, but recently stumbled upon it again from one of the humor sites I frequent.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
Relations between the two super-powers back then \u2013 the United States and the Soviet Union \u2013 were at an all-time low. The specter of nuclear war was looming between the two countries, and national media and governments on both sides were routinely slandering, scowling and running down the other.<\/p>\n
Amidst the saber-rattling was a young 10 year old schoolgirl living in Maine, USA, by the name Samantha Smith. Worried about whether war was going to break out between the two nations, she wrote a letter to then Soviet Supreme Leader, Yuri Andropov asking if it was his intention to wage war against the United States. For her, God made the world \u201cfor us to live in and not to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"blog-smith\"](\"https:\/\/www.chekyang.com\/musings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/blogsmith.jpg\" "\\"blog-smith\\"")
I\u2019m certain she wasn\u2019t expecting a reply of any sort \u2013 but she got one\u2026 from\u00a0 General Secretary Andropov himself. He wrote a letter back to her explaining that the Soviet Union has never wanted to wage war, especially after their horrific experiences of losing millions in the brutally violent war with Nazi Germany in World War II. He invited her to the Soviet Union and to see for herself that \u201ceveryone is for peace and friendship among peoples\u201d.<\/p>\n
Samantha Smith did take the offer, and accompanied by her parents in 1983, they toured the Soviet Union for two weeks and were Andropov\u2019s guests. She was amazed by the friendliness of the Russians she met everywhere, and declared that they were \u201cjust like us\u201d.<\/p>\n
As a result of her visit, relations between the two countries thawed a little, and her trip inspired many other children-ambassadors in international relations.<\/p>\n
Just imagine \u2013 a little 10 year old girl managed to do what adults couldn\u2019t!<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
Sadly, Samantha Smith with her dad would be killed in a plane crash<\/a> just 2 years after her historic visit, in 1985. Her death was met with great sadness in both countries, with the Soviet Union issuing a stamp in her honor and naming a mountain after her.<\/p>\n Her memory lives on today though through a foundation<\/a> that her mother started.<\/p>\n