Americans, Russians Need Spirit Of Elbe, Peaceful World - Veteran

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th April, 2023) Americans and Russians need to preserve the spirit of their troops' historical meeting at the Elbe River in Germany in April 1945 because the two peoples understand they need a peaceful world, World War II veteran Frank Cohn told Sputnik.

"I will guess that deep down in all of our hearts, we all think that a peaceful world would be wonderful," Cohn, a 97-year-old retired US Army colonel, said.

On April 25, 1945, Soviet and US troops met at the Elbe River near the town of Torgau. The meeting was a key milestone in the process of ending World War II and came about as US troops advanced from the west and Soviet troops advanced from the east, thus splitting Nazi Germany in two.

Cohn said it is a tragedy that the United States and Russia have recently lost their commonality of purpose and goals, including the fight against hunger, tackling climate change and others.

Cohn also expressed frustration that some people in positions of power do not want to see Russians and Americans cooperating with each other.

"All of those are politicians!" he said.

Cohn recalled that General Dwight Eisenhower, who led the US troops in Europe in 1945, issued an order that prevented Americans from crossing the Elbe River in order to avoid unnecessary fights with Soviet troops.

"Only later I realized that I was among a few Americans who met the Russians on their side of the river," Cohn said.

The particular meeting took place not far from the German city of Magdeburg.

Cohn said he never received such a warm reception as the one that Soviet troops gave their US counterparts.

"I never received a reception like that again in my life - with hugs and kisses and being carried around and offers of vodka, which I definitely had to limit. No, that never happened again," he said.

Only later Cohn understood that the emotions were a sign the war was actually over for the Russians.

"But that does not change anything, because we were there to celebrate with them and we, as US soldiers, were the ones that showed there were no more Germans to fight in front of them," he said.