"The striking aspect of the visit was the lavish reception the Russians gave the commander of a
foreign nation’s army. Georgi Zhukov,
General Eisenhower’s Soviet counterpart in Berlin, met us at Tempelhof Airport for the flight to Moscow in
Ike’s C-54 four-engine aircraft. Zhukov, as the official host, was the soul of hospitality and congeniality.
By this time the two commanders...had become friends, as close of friends as public life permits.
In Moscow the party first attended a parade. Significantly, my father was invited
to undergo a four-hour ordeal atop Vladimir Lenin’s tomb with Zhukov and Stalin. He
was, I later learned, the first foreigner ever accorded that honor. One evening, the entire party was
entertained at dinner, with Stalin himself officiating."
John S. D. Eisenhower
(son and aide of Ike)