By
ALISON MUTLER
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - As President Ion Iliescu and President Bush enthusiastically addressed tens of thousands of Romanian citizens braving a steady rain to participate in the occasion, the American gazed with delight at the sky.
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On the east side of the square, a rainbow soared even as sunset fell and the western sky turned orange.
"As we started speaking, a rainbow appeared," Bush told the crowd. "God is smiling on us today."
It was an unscripted remark and took the translator by surprise.
Bush's rainbow comment never made it into Romanian, but the crowd applauded anyway.
The event took place in Revolution Square, where battles raged during the 1989 revolt that overthrew Nicolae Ceausescu. The former dictator fled the Communist Party headquarters on the square's southeast corner in a wobbly helicopter with his wife, Elena, a fact noted by Bush.
Only surveillance helicopters buzzed over the square during Bush's visit.
Hundreds lost their lives in Bucharest during the revolt, and Revolution Square was the scene of some of the bloodiest battles. Bullet marks still scar some of the buildings, despite extensive repairs.
"The Romanian patriots ... lost their lives and liberty for the liberty of the nation," Bush said to cheers.
"And here in December of 1989, you broke the silence of your captivity," he said. "From that balcony, the dictator heard your voices and faltered and fled. Two generations of bitter tyranny ended, and all the world witnessed the courage of Romania, the courage that set you free."
The Romanian VIP list for Bush's speech was impressive, and to the locals, it was a show of national unity.
Those attending included former Romanian prime ministers; former King Michael, who was forced by the communists to abdicate in 1947; former President Emil Constantinescu; and the heads of Romania's Orthodox and Catholic churches.
The only absentee was ultranationalist politician Corneliu Vadim Tudor.
There was an impressive lineup of Romanian sports stars, too: Gymnast Nadia Comaneci addressed the crowd, flanked by soccer player Gheorghe Hagi and tennis player Ilie Nastase — symbols of Romanian pride.
"This is another perfect 10 for Romania," said Comaneci, who scored the world's first perfect 10 in gymnastics in the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games
She fled Romania as Ceausescu's regime was dying and emigrated to the United States. She is now married to former U.S. gymnast Bart Conner.
President Bush's visit and the invitation to join NATO were particularly poignant for two Baltic leaders who left their countries as children because of Nazi and Soviet occupations and spent most of their lives in North America: Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus and Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga.
"It's a sense of vindication and of historical justice," said Vike-Freiberga, who was seven when her family fled Latvia in 1944 as the Nazi occupation was ending and the Soviet Union was taking over again. They settled in Canada, where she became a psychology professor.
"My parents fled their home and left everything behind, with their children in their arms, because they could not tolerate the regime that was coming to occupy their country," she told reporters in Vilnius, Lithuania.
"They spent their whole lives hoping to return to their country. They died and are buried abroad. They did not return to the promised land. I did, and I'm happy."
Adamkus spent five decades in the United States, settling in Chicago and working on an auto plant assembly line before rising to the top ranks of the Environmental Protection Agency while advocating endlessly for Lithuania's freedom.
"There are no words to express the feelings when you see that all the goals and dreams of your life and of work dedicated to that finally becomes a reality," he said.
At Iliescu's ornate 17th-century Cotroceni Palace, Bush received Romania's highest decoration, the Star of Romania.
Iliescu said Bush earned the medal for his support of Romania's efforts to join NATO and his role in "helping ensure peace and stability in the world."
"This is a happy moment for us ... now our countries are part of the same system of collective security. We share the same values and wage the same battle against the threats of international terrorism," the Romanian president said during the ceremony.
Bush thanked him for the honor and said, "We're here because America and the nations of the world have seen the courage and character of the Romanian people. You have liberated yourselves from tyranny. You are building a vibrant democracy. And you're preparing to join NATO. In all these events of history, America has been your friend, and we'll be proud to call you ally."
