Boy Is Back From U.S.S.R. Mission
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El Segundo third-grader Bradley Correa has returned from his self-styled mission of peace to Moscow, somewhat disappointed that he did not get to chat with Mikhail S. Gorbachev.
“A top guy there from the Peace Committee said Gorbachev had phoned and said it was not possible because he was stuck with the president of Uruguay,” reported Bradley’s father, Robert Correa, who contacted Soviet officials to arrange the trip. “He said a letter would be sent to Bradley.”
In other respects, the trip--Bradley’s second to the U.S.S.R.--was a success, said the elder Correa, who works for Mexicana Airlines.
Accompanied by Soviet reporters and photographers, Bradley and his father went to schools in Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev and Volgagrad; laid ceremonial wreaths at war memorials, and gave the greetings of Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley to city officials wherever they went.
The visits led to front-page coverage in Leningrad’s evening newspaper, an article in Pravda and an interview on Radio Moscow.
Not bad for a kid who is going to be 9 on Saturday.
The best part of the trip had nothing to do with politics, Bradley said. It was the day Soviet officials took him to the circus, which happened to be closed, and gave him the run of the place.
What was worst, said Bradley, who has the normal fidgets of the male third-grader, was listening to Soviet officials drone on for hours about world peace and international relations.
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