Voice of America: Judge a regime by its heroes – Moscow 1962 vs. Moscow 2012

Published Nov. 25, 2012 at 4:18 pm

For Moscow of 1962 – it was Yuri Gagarin.

Yuri Gagarin, first man in space, was a genuine Soviet hero who thrilled crowds from Leningrad to London.

With his wide, easy grin, Gagarin was an internationally renowned poster boy for Soviet science – first man in space! – and for Soviet health care – great teeth! From East to West, from First World to Third, the Soviet regime put forward Gagarin as a walking advertisement for the New Soviet Man.

As a young stamp collector in the United States, I carefully stuck in my Stamps of the World album stamps that honored Gagarin and his April 12, 1961 flight. Some stamps came from countries that today no longer exist — Czechoslovakia, East Germany and North Vietnam.

A journalist stands near a screen displaying convicted Russian arms smuggler Viktor Bout in Moscow, on April 12, 2012, during a teleconference with Bout from his US prison. The unusual teleconference involved a video link between Moscow and a New York City studio from which Bout’s wife Alla and lawyers arranged a direct five-minute phone conversation with the convicted arms smuggler in his Brooklyn prison. AFP PHOTO/KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV