In 1939, the commader of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, General Stasys Raštikis visited the Baltic republic Estonia's capital Tallinn on the occasion of its independence day on 24 Feb., 1939. At the Talinn station he is greeted by Estonian General Johan Laidoner. Footage is taken from Estonian archives.
During this visit, General Raštikis was awarded Estonia's Order of the Eagle, 1st Class. Raštikis in turn awarded Gen. Laidoner the Order of Vytautas the Great, 1st Class. Raštikis went to meet Estonia's President and participated in independence day activities. He later toured Estonian military installations.
His host, Gen. Laidoner met a terrible fate after the Soviet Union occupied Estonia in 1940. The Soviet secret police (NKVD) captured Gen. Laidoner in Tallinn on July 19, 1940. Laidoner and his wife were deported together to the Town of Penza, Russia. Both were arrested there on June 28, 1941 and taken to the Kirov Prison through Moscow. In 19451952 Laidoner was in the Ivanovo Prison, in 1952 he was taken to Moscow where sentenced to 25 years in prison. Laidoner died the next year in the Vladimir Prison Camp.
Raštikis, however managed to evade Soviet capture but his family was imprisoned in Soviet gulags. Raštikis settled in the west where he lived with his wife. He was professor of foreign languages. He was fluent in Russian, German and English in addition to his native tongue. He taught at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California. He retired in Los Angeles, California and died on May 3, 1985 at the age of 88 after suffering a heart attack. After Lithuania regained independence in 1990, Raštikis was reburied in Kaunas, Lithuania in 1993 with full military honors.
