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President Kennedy Delivers Christmas Message to West Berliners

Dec. 25, 1961 - President Kennedy told West Berliners in a Christmas message today that the beacon of freedom in Berlin “will continue to shine brightly for many years to come.” “We are at your side — as before. We shall stay,” the President declared on a special television program. “Until truly there is goodwill among men, not walls to divide them, our pursuit of peace shall continue.” Gen. Lucius Clay, the President’s personal representative in Berlin, said in a message on the same program, “We Americans now in Berlin are proud to have our Christmas with you as evidence of our partnership in the cause of freedom.” West Berliners were particularly gladdened by President Kennedy’s phrase “many years to come.” Surrounded by Communist territory, the West Berliners fear that any slackening of Western determination to hold Berlin would signal a gradual withering away of the life they have enjoyed since World War II.

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