The itinerary of his trip mirrored the one taken by his grandfather Henry Wallace who visited the USSR during the WWII exactly 60 years ago as the head of a US military aid mission.
The 58-year-old grandson of the renowned politician visited Magadan and other towns of the Kolyma region as well as Irkutsk and Moscow. On Saturday, David Douglas Wallace left for the USA.
"Of all the places that I have visited in Russia, Magadan has made the strongest impression. Many other Russian cities and towns are more attractive than this northern city but Magadan certainly has an inimitable touch about it," David Douglas Wallace told journalists.
"I liked the city and the people I met there. I liked the way they are overcoming the traumas of their past. The people I came to know in Magadan were all very kind and hospitable," he said.
David Douglas Wallace is a lawyer and his visit, unlike that of his famous grandfather's, was private.
US Vice President Henry Wallace visited Magadan on May 25-27, 1944 as the head of a US military aid mission.
Henry Wallace oversaw supplies of US military equipment to the Soviet Union under the lend-lease agreement. Among other things, the agreement between the two WWII allies provided for supply of US military aircraft.
The American planes flew across Canada and Alaska all the way to Magadan, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk and then further to the front line.
During Henry Wallace's visit to Kolyma, the Soviet hosts showed him a lot of what had hitherto been kept strictly secret, including a gulag goldmining works.
After the US Vice President saw with his own eyes that the volume of Kolyma goldmining production amounted to many hundreds of kilos of gold per day the allies agreed to expand their lend-lease supplies.
Russia's Far East made such a strong impression on Henry Wallace that he decided to share his experiences with compatriots. As a result he wrote a documentary book called `A Mission to Soviet Asia` which was later translated into many languages.
The grandson of the former US Vice President also intends to pen his impressions of the trip across the Russian Far East and Siberia. He has not thought of the future book's name yet, David told journalists.
