Todays Toast August 25 Samantha Smith

In late 1982, a fifth grader named Samantha Smith from Manchester, Maine, wrote a letter to Soviet leader Yuri Andropov. In her letter, she worried about the US and Russia getting into a nuclear war, and wanted to know if the Soviets were pushing for war. Several months later, she received a reply. Andropov assured her that he did not want a nuclear war with the US or anyone else, and called her a courageous and honest little girl. He also invited her to visit the Soviet Union. In July of 1983, her and