11th Annual Roll Call of Nations Wreath Laying Ceremony and Presentation of the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom

A colorful array of embassies, delegations, and ethnic and human rights organizations gathered to lay wreaths in honor of the victims and heroes at our Memorial statue on the anniversary of its dedication on June 8.

On the morning of June 8, under a clear blue sky, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) convened our 11th Annual Roll Call of Nations Wreath Laying Ceremony and Presentation of the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom at our Memorial statue in Washington, D.C., at the corner of Massachusetts and New Jersey Avenues near our nation’s capitol.

The solemn gathering — dedicated to honoring the victims, celebrating liberty where it has triumphed, and furthering our pursuit of a world free from communism — was attended by a broad array of representatives from 16 embassies, 4 official government delegations, 38 ethnic and human rights organizations, as well as scores of activist and lovers of freedom.

In his remarks Executive Director Marion Smith said: “If you want to know what the real legacy of Marxism is, it is this ceremony. It is dozens of countries represented here by those who will lay wreaths to commemorate the lives of those killed in some 40 communist countries since 1917, more than 100 million people killed.”

“Socialism has never worked anywhere in the 100 years since its existence.” — Dr. Lee Edwards

VOC Chairman, Dr. Lee Edwards and Marion Smith presented the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom posthumously to Oswaldo Payá, the Cuban dissident slain by Castro agents in 2012 for leading pro-democracy efforts in Cuba. The award was accepted by his widow Ofelia Acevedo and his daughter Rosa María Payá, herself a civic leader, who spoke about what her father’s struggle for freedom means for the Cuban people.

“Freedom is going to come soon to Cuba, because we haven’t lost our hope.” — Rosa María Payá

This year’s ceremony and award centered on prospects for freedom in Cuba and Latin America region in the hope that old and new tyranny in places such as Cuba and Venezuela will be reversed and help ensure the triumph of liberty in the Western Hemisphere.