World War II veteran, flight engineer and B-24 ball turret gunner Walter Kush displays a photograph of his flight crew. Greg Allen/NPR hide caption

Dissident writer and opposition leader Vaclav Havel addresses the crowd at a rally in Prague celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Universal Declarations of the Human Rights, Dec. 10, 1988. Havel was elected the first president of Czechoslovakia after the fall of the communist regime in 1989. Joel Robine/AFP/Getty Images hide caption