orb@whuxl.UUCP (SEVENER) (05/10/85)
Once again we have another example of Ronald Reagan's distortions of
the truth. The following appeared in the New York Times, Wed. May 8,1985:
AGAINST BITBURG VISIT, GIRL SAYS
Washington, May 7 (AP)- A 13-year-old Jewish girl cited by President Reagan
as supporting his decision to lay a wreath at the Bitburg cemetery
honoring "the future of Germany" said today that she actually opposed his
visit to the military gravesite.
The girl, Beth Flom of Marlboro Township, NJ said that in a telex she
sent to President Reagan on April 21, she made it clear she disapproved
of his decision to visit Bitburg. She suggested that if he made the visit
the wreath should be placed "in honor of the future of Germany".
.......
During a speech afterward at the United States Air Base in Bitburg, Mr.
Reagan said: "One of the many who wrote me about this visit was a young
woman who had recently been bar mitzvahed. She urged me to lay the
wreath at Bitburg cemetery in honor of the future of Germany, and that
is what we have done."
The President did not mention Miss Flom by name. But Dale Petroskey, a
White House assistant press secretary, said today that Mr. Reagan was
referring to Miss Flom's telex.