RONALD REAGAN: KEY FALKLANDS PLAYER DIES AT 93
By J. Brock (FINN)
Ronald Reagan, 93, the 40th President of the United States, died peacefully at 1:00 PM LMT on 05 June 2004 in his BelAir, California home. For the past 10 years, he had been battling Alzheimer’s disease and it was Pneumonia, a complication of the disease, that finally took him.
Amazingly, in a hand-written letter dated November 1994, President Reagan announced that he was suffering from the malady and said that, “When the Lord takes me, whenever that may be, I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for the future.”
He is most remembered in the Falklands as the one key person who called the ten Argentine Dictator, Gultieri, and tried to persuade him not to invade the Islands. He is also much appreciated here for allowing British Armed Forces to use Wideawake Airfield on Ascension Island and for providing other services that helped British Forces to recover the Falklands in 72 days.
Of him, former Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher said, “He is the second most important man in my life.” Their close friendship flourished despite her refusal to acquiesce to President Reagan’s request to negotiate with the Argentines over the Falklands and the invasion of Granada in 1983.
It is expected that the body will be taken to his Presidential Library in the Simi Valley prior to a funeral at the National Cathedral in Washington DC. He then will be buried in the Grounds of the Library in the Simi Valley.
