Diary Entry - 09/09/1983
Key Facts
The President and the First Lady attend a Memorial Serive at the Washington National Cathedral for the victims of the Soviet attack on Korean Air Lines Flight 007.
President Reagan signs Proclamation 5093 appointing September 11th 1983 as a National Day of Mourning.
An interview for the Mon. edition of “Time.” All of it in the Korean plane shoot down. I have no idea how it will turn out—Larry Barrett who did a thoroughly inaccurate book on me is the interviewer. To the Nat. Cathedral for a memorial service to the victims of the KAL massacre. After the service we met with the familys of many of the victims. It was deeply a moving experience akin to our meeting with the familys of those who died in the Beirut Embassy bombing. The Soviets have stepped up their propaganda drive to point us as the villains, the KAL as a spy plane & themselves as protecting their rights. Did a closed circuit T.V. meeting with a regional Repub. meeting in Ariz. Took Q’s. Then up stairs—some calls to make & mail to write. One call was to former Gov. Dan Evans of Wash. who has been appointed Sen. to replace Scoop Jackson. He’ll have to survive a special election in Nov. to keep the seat.
