Westminster College honors Winston Churchill’s legacy

Saturday, the British Ambassador, Gov. Nixon and more than 100 people gathered in Fulton to honor the legacy of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

“America’s Service of Remembrance” was held at Westminster College to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Churchill’s death.

Churchill, famous for his leadership in World War II, visited Westminster College in 1946 with President Harry S. Truman. There he gave his well known “Iron Curtain” speech following the war.

Sir Peter Westmacott KCMG, the British ambassador, said Churchill always stressed the importance of a strong relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.

“I think he matters to so many of the global challenges today that we need to face up to,” Westmacott said. “Because if you look a little bit at what Churchill stood for in his reaction to events, he was rather extraordinary in the way in which he refused to deny unwelcome truths just because they were inconvenient and they were not popular. He was the man who said look what Nazi Germany is doing, when it was very unfashionable to do that.”

Churchill’s granddaughter and great-grandson also spoke at the celebration in Fulton.

Attendees were able to see a new exhibit in the National Churchill Museum beneath the church after the ceremony.