VALSTYBĖS SEKRETORIAUS DEAN RUSK LINKĖJIMAI LIETUVIAMS
THE SECRETARY OF STATE WASHINGTON
February 8, 1968
Dear Mr. Charge d’Affaires:
On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Lithuania’s independence, I am very pleased to extend to you best wishes on behalf of the Government and people of the United States.
Throughout its long and proud history, the Lithuanian nation has endured with fortitude many periods of trial and alien rule. Unhappily, in our own time, Lithuania’s re-establishment as an independent state was followed only twenty-two years later by its forcible incorporation into the Soviet Union. The Lithuanian people have responded to this situation through the years with unyielding courage and unfaltering hope for freedom and national independence. The firm purpose with which the Lithuanians both at home and abroad have struggled to preserve their national heritage is the best assurance of their survival as a nation.
Americans look with understanding and sympathy upon the just aspiration of the Lithuanian people to determine freely their own destiny. The United States Government, by its continued non-recognition of the forcible incorporation of Lithuania, affirms its belief in Lithuania’s right of self-determination.
Sincerely yours,
(Signed) Dean Rusk
Dean Rusk
Mr. Joseph Kajeckas,
Charge d’Affaires ad interim
of the Legation of Lithuania,
2622 Sixteenth Street, N.W., Washington, D. C.
