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Texas Attorney Joe Geary, 90, a World War II hero, still faces down enemies — in court / "A guy named General [Draža] Mihailovic got us out [of Yugoslavia]." / "The Dallas Morning News" August 26, 2014

August 28, 2014, 3:51 am
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The Dallas Morning News
Cheryl Hall
August 26, 2014

Joe Geary has practiced law in North Texas
since he passed the bar 67 years ago.
 G.J. McCarthy/Staff Photographer
 
Joe Geary (standing, third from left) flew 50 bombing missions in the liberation of Europe and learned valuable lessons for the legal profession.
 
 Joe Geary (far right), and other veterans pose for a group photo at the Utah Beach American Memorial June 2014 in France. Geary is a WWII veteran and former Dallas City Councilman.


ADDISON — August has been busy for Joe Geary.

The founder of Geary, Porter & Donovan PC went before a jury in Denton County and won $309,000 for his client in a state property condemnation case.

He resolved a dispute involving a legal immigrant ranchhand and a high-interest loan company. For that case, Geary waived his $480-an-hour fee because he felt the terms of the loan were “morally unconscionable.”

And he’s knee-deep in depositions on another case that’s headed for trial later this year.

The thing is, Geary is 90 years old. He’s been practicing law in North Texas since he passed the bar 67 years ago.

“Work is the nearest thing to competitive athletics that I can do,” Geary says in his office along the Dallas North Tollway. “It keeps your mind working. You get to see a lot of different people in different circumstances. It’s still a deal where you can make a difference for poor folks. And it’s just fun.”

On a typical day, Geary shows up at the office between 8:30 and 9 and leaves at noon for lunch at Preston Trail Golf Club. If his workload allows it, he stays and plays honor-count gin, a complicated version of gin rummy.

“I play for fun and to challenge myself mentally,” he says. “It makes you think competitively, just as you do in law.”

Geary’s legal career began as an assistant district attorney for Dallas County in 1947. He left the DA’s office for private practice in 1951 and was elected to the Dallas City Council in 1959.

Two years later, he was the business establishment’s mayoral candidate but was beaten by Earle Cabell. It was just as well, Geary shrugs. “I would have been mayor when Kennedy was assassinated.”

Former Dallas City Manager George Schrader met Geary in 1960. He has seen Geary operate as a legal adversary, as his comrade in zoning cases and now as his personal attorney.

“He’s a distinguished attorney — very tough, represents his clients exceedingly well,” Schrader says. “But he also has a soft spot that most people don’t get to see. He’s done things for the city that he’s not gotten recognition for.”‘The gift of gab’Mike Geary, 60, has been at his dad’s side since he started coming to work with him on Saturdays as a 7-year-old. Mike joined his father’s firm fresh out of law school 35 years ago.

“He’s got the gift of gab,” Mike says. “He’s still very good in the courtroom. I tell people I hope I’m upright at 90, much less showing up here. He’s that generation. They don’t know anything else but to work.”

Geary is a highly decorated World War II navigator who flew 50 bombing missions in the liberation of Europe.

He left Southern Methodist University when he was 18 to enlist as an aviation cadet in the Army, traveling to Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls for basic training. His bus mates included Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry and Ben Love of Houston, who became one of Texas’ most prominent bankers.

Geary and his comrades missed the D-Day invasion, waiting to hitch a ride across the Atlantic aboard a USO plane.

They were miffed that their grand adventure was being delayed. But they matured in a hurry when they arrived to join the 450th Bomb Group in Italy later that summer.

“We were green as grass, not knowing anything about anything,” Geary says. “We asked the company colonel where we should put our stuff. His response turned on the light for us. ‘I can’t tell you right now. We’ll see who doesn’t come back today.’ That was the greeting. And that was the way it was.”

Geary doesn’t know how many men cycled through the 450th, but he’s read that 1,505 didn’t make it home. He and the flight crew almost made it 1,515 when they were shot down on Oct. 7, 1944.

They were flying lead in a bombing mission outside Vienna. Five of the seven airplanes were shot down before the formation reached the oil refinery and storage depot target. Their plane was hit hard but they continued on and dropped their bombs even though it had lost its instruments and most of its fuel.

The crew couldn’t bail without deserting their severely injured co-pilot.

Somehow, Geary found an airfield on an island off the coast of Yugoslavia.

“The pilot said he was going to try to take it in, but that anybody who wanted to could bail out,” Geary recalls. “We all said, ‘Hell, we all came together. We’ll stay together.’ The pilot was able to make the landing on an emergency strip. A guy named Gen. [Draža] Mihailovic got us out [of Yugoslavia]. He was [Marshal] Tito’s opposition.”

Geary’s role earned him the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal and the Knight of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest military decoration. Feeling appreciated, Geary depends on expensive hearing aids and uses a walker. But other than that, he’s still going strong.

In June, he traveled to France for D-Day and French liberation celebrations. “The high point of the trip for me was the appreciation shown us from old to young, including little schoolkids,” Geary says. “It was a very heartwarming experience.”

Shortly after he returned from France, Geary flew to New Orleans to be interviewed by the National World War II Museum for its archives.

“They wanted to hear the basic bull about how tough things were,” he says. “I kept telling them — which is the absolute truth — we had a dry bed and a hot meal if you got home. The guys walking [infantry] also got shot at, but they had rain and snow to sleep in when they got through with their day. They had it far worse than we did.”

The war taught Geary responsibility and how to assess the enemy — useful skills for the legal profession.

“That’s the key to the law business. Knowing the opposition. Knowing the hot buttons that may rattle their witness or the lawyer,” he says. “I like to agitate. My forte is cross examination.”

It also taught him how to figure out whom he could rely on in structuring his case handling.

“There are people here that I would use in some instances but in some instances I wouldn’t because of their peculiarities as I see them. Now, my peculiarities as they see them is another matter.”

AT A GLANCE: Joe Geary

Title: Founder and chairman, Geary, Porter & Donovan PC in Addison

Age: 90

Born: St. Paul Hospital in Dallas, Feb. 2, 1924.

Resides: Bent Tree neighborhood.

Education: North Dallas High School, 1940; bachelor of arts in pre-law and government, 1946, and law degree from Southern Methodist University, January 1948. (He passed the bar in 1947, before he graduated.)

Personal: Married for 56 years to Charlotte Geary, who died in 2005; one son and three daughters, nine grandchildren and five (soon to be six) great-grandchildren.


http://www.dallasnews.com/business/columnists/cheryl-hall/20140826-world-war-ii-hero-still-faces-down-courtroom-enemies.ece


*****

If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

*****
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HALYARD MISSION legend Captain Nick A. Lalich of the OSS shares diary entries from 1944 of great WWII Mihailovich rescue operations in the former Yugoslavia at Chicago celebration marking 50th Anniversary

August 29, 2014, 1:56 pm
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Captain Nick A. Lalich of the OSS sharing a light moment
with General Draza Mihailovich in Bosnia or Serbia September 1944.

Captain Nick Lalich addressing the audience at Daley Plaza in Chicago
for the Halyard Mission 50th Anniversary Celebration May 31, 1994.
Photo courtesy of Sam Subotich.

Aleksandra's Note:Captain Nick A. Lalich, a WWII American O.S.S. Officer, was instrumental in setting up and successfully carrying through the classified, top secret "Halyard Mission Rescue Operation"
(Halyard Mission/later Ranger Mission) evacuations in Nazi occupied Yugoslavia in 1944, during which over 500 American airmen along with a couple hundred other Allied airmen were all safely evacuated from behind enemy lines and returned to their families and their homes. He was an honored speaker at the "Halyard Mission 50th Anniversary Commemoration" event on May 31, 1994 which was part of the weeklong D-Day 50th anniversary celebration in Chicago, Illinois. In his address both at Daley Plaza and later at the Swiss Hotel, Captain Lalich read directly from the diary he kept in 1944, vividly describing for the audience what it was like to be there during those critical months in 1944, reliving for us his participation in what has been called 'the greatest rescue of American lives from behind enemy lines in the history of warfare.'By doing so, he made it all come alive and we took that incredible journey with him.

Captain Nick Lalich was a good and honorable man. He was my friend. Like so many others who were participants in the great Halyard Mission adventure, he is no longer with us, but will remain with us always.

I'm so thankful to Captain Lalich for keeping that diary of his through all those years which documented these historic evacuations made possible by General Mihailovich and his Chetniks that took place over the course of several months in 1944, beginning in August and ending in December of that year.

Memory eternal.

Sincerely,

Aleksandra Rebic

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Major George Vujnovich and Captain Nick Lalich
at Halyard Mission 50th Anniversary Reunion Chicago, May 30, 1994.
Photo: Rebic collection.
 
Captain Nick Lalich (center) with two rescued American WWII airmen,
Curtis Diles (left) and Milton Friend (right) at Halyard Mission 50th anniversary reunion, Chicago May 30, 1994. Photo: Rebic collection.
 
THE FOLLOWING IS THE PRESENTATION BY CAPTAIN NICK LALICH AT THE
HALYARD MISSION 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION IN CHICAGO MAY 31, 1994:

Captain Nick A. Lalich:

"...I would first like to recognize the following people, those who are here, and those who are not, who have been so active in the cause:

Metropolitan Iriney, Serbian Orthodox Metropolinate, New Gracanica, Illinois; Metropolitan Christopher, Serbian Orthodox Metropolinate, Libertyville, Illinois;
Honorary Chairman Mayor Richard Daley, City of Chicago;
Colonel Kenneth A. Plummer, Committee Co-Chairman;
Rade Rebic, Chairman "Halyard Mission Celebration" and his daughter Aleksandra Rebic;
Honorable Congressman Philip M. Crane; the Honorable Edward J. Derwinski; and Major Richard L. Felman, President of the National Committee of American Airmen rescued by General Mihailovich.

I would like to pay tribute and dedicate this presentation to:

General Draza Mihailovich,
Captain George "Guv" Musulin,
and the American airmen rescued by General Mihailovich.

Since the "Halyard Mission" is being celebrated here in Chicago, let me name a few American airmen from the Chicago tri-state area who are being honored:

Major General Donald J. Smith
William L. Rogers
Major Kenneth C. Fulven
Charles Kenneth Gracz
Richard S. Sheehy
Robert I. Wilson
Donald H. Parkenson
Thomas Pettigrew
David E. La Bissoniere
Del Salman
Neil Janosky
William A. Crockett
Robert Eagan
Arthur J. Lund
David J. O'Connell, Jr.
John Fox
Fred Zvechner
Robert W. Eckman (who died just this last February 5, 1994 who came out with the last group of airmen, Halyard's last evacuation, December 27th, 1944)

During July of 1946 many of these flyers, and many more across the country, flew to Washington, D.C. hoping to persuade Congress and the U.S. State Department to intervene to save Draza Mihailovich from the communist firing squad. They also generated many media news stories favoring the General.

Before I narrate the rescue of the American airmen, starting with the night evacuation of August 9, 1944, I would like to recognize two very important Americans who contributed greatly to the Halyard Mission:

The late Colonel Nick Stepanovich, U.S. Army, from nearby Indiana Harbor. Colonel Nick was the one who recommended and helped recruit our American Serbs in the O.S.S. -- we are grateful and proud.

Major George Vujnovich, (Ambridge, PA and New York City), who was the O.S.S. chief in Bari, Italy and responsible for selecting and sending into Yugoslavia the Halyard Mission members to Draza Mihailovich.

Now to narrate to you some excerpts from my diary - the dramatic daylight rescue of the American airmen from enemy-occupied Serbia and Bosnia...

August 9 [1944], after the first night evacuation of 48 injured airmen, including our Major Felman, I reminded Captain George Musulin, our leader of the Halyard Mission, that headquarters, Bari, Italy, was going ahead with the daylight evacuation - this morning, August 10th - today, yes, today - of 240 American airmen, from a make-shift airfield at the mountain plateau of Pranjani, near Ravna Gora, only 60 miles southwest of Belgrade, with the German headquarters for the Balkans in Serbia proper.

Back at our headquarters "Gov" Musulin and I caught a few winks plus a bite to eat -- we went over our plans -- all American airmen were ordered to be at the airstrip no later than 8:00 in the morning. We were expecting to arrive at 8:15 a.m. 6 C-47 air transports with 25 P-51 fighter escorts as coverage. At 9:15 a.m. another group of air transports were to arrive with air coverage.

Gosh, I could hardly wait!

The people in the nearby villages were absolutely tops - to think that each of our 240 airmen were given a comfortable lodging with food by the Serbian people. They had faith in our airmen and in the Halyard Mission -- that's what I call real democracy.

August 10th, 1944:

We are ready! The field was as inviting as a billiard table - our Chetnik guard was out 8,000 strong. Suddenly, I heard the Brrr-rr of plane engines -- they were coming - 6 C47s with a fighter cover escort of 25 P-51s. What a sight! My God, it was beautiful! The pilots of the 60th troop carrier command.

The fighters buzzed the vicinity of Gornji Milanovac, Chachak, and other nearby German-occupied areas -- everything seemed okay. I let out a sigh of relief and turned to watch. The people were straining their eyes upward, disbelief on their faces - then cheering and waving. They pounded each other on the back so full of emotion! That here was "the greatest show on earth!" And what a show they put on - our American air force.

Six C-47s landed at 8:45 a.m. Twenty airmen went to each plane. We boarded 120 airmen on the first six planes. Then at 9:15 six more planes arrived. The remaining 120 airmen were boarded and off they went!

At last it was over. 12 planes flew away. Gosh, we sure sweated them out. Some 300 peasants had rushed the field to say 'Good-bye' to the American flyers. Flowers were being strewn all over the airfield - the airmen were throwing out their clothing - jackets, shoes, etc. The people were crying - honestly, by far, the greatest day in my life!

During the months of August and early September, the Halyard Mission continued daylight and night evacuations from Pranjani. The count of American airmen, American civilians, Russians, Italians, French and British evacuated was over 380 at that time.

On August 29th, Captain George S. Musulin, leader of the Halyard Mission, was recalled to Bari, Italy to prepare new escape routes and airfields. I, in turn, was put in full charge of the Halyard Mission.

With Tito's communist Partisans making attacks on Draza Mihailovich's forces, the Halyard Mission moved with Draza over the Suvobor Mountain into Mijonica. We proceeded to Koceljevo in Machva to locate a new airstrip. September 17th two C-47s landed at noon to evacuate 24 airmen and Dr. Carpenter and Dr. Mitrani, his two aides and our naval officer, along with O.S.S. photographer J.B. Allin. It was a successful evacuation.

From Koceljevo, we moved toward Bosnia, crossing the Drina River at Badovinci to Medjaci -- on toward the Trebava mountains, picking up American airmen on the way. There we met Father Sava, leader priest of the Chetnik forces for that area of Bosnia.

We moved south toward Doboj, where we could observe the German garrison from a nearby mountain. We then crossed the Sprechna River, moving to Boljanic where we readied a new airstrip for possible evacuations then headed south toward Sarajevo and on to Okruglice, after crossing the Krivaja River at Stog. Colonel McDowell, of the RANGER Intelligence Mission was recalled back to Bari, Italy. The mission and eight American airmen returned to Boljanic where they were evacuated on November 1, 1944. I was told to continue with the Halyard Mission and stay with Draza -- also told to pick up 16 additional American airmen in Visegrad. Instead, the 16 airmen arrived with an escort in Okruglice with our American citizen Bobby Marijanovich of Alquippa, Pennsylvania.

The Halyard Mission was ordered to evacuate -- we now had 16 airmen all in terrible physical shape. In addition, we had received word that 9 more airmen were holding up at Boljanic, waiting for our arrival.

Bari suggested two proposals for our evacuation:

First, have the nine airmen at Boljanic join us at Okruglice, then move to Bugojno, across the Bosna River, then travel to the Adriatic Sea for a pick-up. Second, turn ourselves, the Halyard Mission with our 25 flyers, over to Tito's Partisans. My answer: "No way!" I insisted that, "since you people sent me in - I want you to come and evacuate us - including all the airmen at Boljanic, our last last airstrip." O.S.S. approved!

The 15th Air Force came to get us on December 27th at noon. Two C-47s and a cover of 17 P-51s - the ' 51s' known as "The Black Squadron". They were terrific. All came from Foggia, Italy. It was a successful evacuation.

Now to recall our last day in Okruglice, Bosnia, with Draza Mihailovich:

Before leaving Draza, I told him that O.S.S. headquarters had gotten permission from our State Department, via George Vujnovich, Chief of Operations in Bari, Italy, to bring Draza out of Yugoslavia.

Draza quoted to me from Georges Danton, the leader of the French Revolution:

"You can't," he said, "carry your country out on the sole of your shoes."

He then told me this:

"I was born here on this this soil. I will stay with my people on this soil, and I will be buried in this soil."

[Lalich becomes visibly teary-eyed.]

We left Draza Mihailovich on the 11th of December, 1944, with our American flyers, from the village of Okruglice, not too far from Sarajevo. There, in the pre-morning dawn, during a heavy snowfall, Draza Mihailovich assembled two thousand of his Chetniks for a farewell salute to the 16 flyers of the Halyard Mission, who were leaving Draza's Ravna Gora fighters, the first guerrilla forces in Europe.

There, in front of his troops, we kissed Draza 'good-bye' -- yes, the American airmen, Jibby, and I -- Jibby, of course, being the radio operator. Draza presented me with a "Kama" - a two edged Serbian knife and also a Kama for Captain George Vujnovich.

Draza then tore off his Serbian patch, an insignia he had worn for four years, and gave it to me as an uspomena - a souvenir. It said: "Samo Sloga Srbina Spasava" - "Only Unity Saves the Serbs."

....Applause...

I, in turn, gave Draza my American carbine, I told him he never did receive Allied jets and other material to fight this war. I had a deep sadness in my heart. I could hardly talk. In fact, tears rolled down my cheeks. Believe you me, it was a sad situation.

I thanked Draza for returning to America our American airmen and allies. What else could I say but, 'Hvala za sve" - Thank you for everything.'

We parted, our airmen, Jibby, and I, waving to Draza. The Chetnik rifles saluted long in the morning.

For the trip back to the Boljanic airstrip, Draza gave us 40 Chetniks, led by "Shane", the champion skier of Yugoslavia - he really knew the mountains in the snow and would help carry us over the hardships - and Major Blagojevich as my liaison officer. We slowly took through the Zvezda planina, over to Stog, across the Krivaja River, across the Ozren mountains, stopping for Serbian Orthodox church services at the monastery, and on to Boljanic where our brave American airmen, Jibby, and I, were evacuated on December 27, 1944.

Glory to Draza!"

-Standing ovation-


END
Captain Nick A. Lalich
May 31, 1994
Chicago, IL U.S.A.

Final evacuation: Nick Lalich, kneeling front center, Dec. 27, 1944, before departing to Bari, Italy. Arthur Jibilian is standing second from left (facing photo), with the last of the American airmen to be evacuated from Yugoslavia.
 
 
Aleksandra's Note: Captain Nick Lalich passed away on May 11, 2001 in Baltimore, Maryland at the age of 85.


*****

If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me atravnagora@hotmail.com

*****
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На данашњи дан пре 91 године, 6. септембра 1923. у Београду је рођен Њ.В. Краљ Петар II, прворођени син Краља Александра I и Краљице Марије. / "Удружење Краљевина Србија"

September 6, 2014, 2:08 am
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Удружење Краљевина Србија
ОдУрош Парезановић
Објављено5. септембар 2014.


На данашњи дан пре 91 године, 6. септембра 1923. у Београду је рођен Њ.В. Краљ Петар II, прворођени син Краља Александра I и Краљице Марије.
 
У земљи је рођење Престолонаследника обележено топовским салвама и весељем. У Двор су од народа стизале честитке и дарови.
 
Крштење Престолонаследника Петра обављено је 21. октобра у Дворској капели, уз присуство кума, заступника британског Краља Џорџа, принца Алберта, војводе од Јорка. По обредима Српске православне цркве, крстио га је Његова Светост Патријарх српскиДимитрије.
 
После основног образовања које је стекао на Двору, похађао је школу у Енглеској, из које се вратио после атентата на његовог оца 1934. Пошто је тада био малолетан и имао свега 11 година, краљевско управљање земљом пренето је на Намесништво које се састојало од три регента, међу којима је био и његов стриц Принц Павле Карађорђевић.
 
Почетак Другог светског рата 1939. ставио је Краљевину Југославију пред тешку одлуку: да ли да приступи Тројном пакту (Немачка – Италија – Јапан) или да се супротстави неупоредиво снажнијем непријатељу. Одлука Принца Павла да потпише понуђени уговор наишла је на жестоке протесте у земљи, који су 27. марта 1941. довели до кризе владе и државног удара. Краљ Петар проглашен је пунолетним, и одмах преузео овлашћења од Намесништва.
 
Југословенска војска није могла да се одупре предстојећој инвазији нацистичке Немачке која је уследила: Југославија је била окупирана за 11 дана. Краљ Петар II био је приморан да заједно са владом емигрира, прво у Грчку и Палестину, а затим у Египат. У јуну 1941. стигао је у Енглеску, где је прихваћен као симбол противљења нацизму. За време свог избеглиштва Краљ Петар II је довршио школовање у Кембриџу, након чега се придружио енглеском Краљевском ваздухопловству (РАФ).
 
Упркос слому југословенске војске у земљи су оформљена два супарничка покрета отпора. Први је био ројалистички на челу са генералом Драгољубом (Дражом) Михаиловићем, Министром одбране владе у изгнанству. Други је био комунистички партизански покрет, који је водио комуниста Јосип Броз – касније познатији као Тито. Последица је био крвави грађански рат.
 
Савезници су најпре подржавали Михаиловића, а онда су се преоријентисали на Тита. Године 1944, у пратњи совјетских тенковских бригада, партизани су ушли у Београд и оформили комунистичку владу. Наредне године, у новембру, монархија је незаконито, без референдума укинута, а Југославија се преобразила и током више од четири деценије остала тоталитарна једнопартијска држава под влашћу комунистичке партије.
 
Краљ Петар II никада није абдицирао. Године 1947. комунистичка власт је одузела држављанство и конфисковала имовину Краљевској Породици.  У изгнанству је прво живео у Лондону са својомсупругом, грчком и данском принцезом Александром (од 1944. године) и сином Александром, рођеним 1945. године. Последње године живота провео је у Америци. После дуге и тешке болести умро је у денверској болници 3. новембра 1970, а сахрањен је у цркви Светог Саве у Либертвилу. Он је био једини краљ сахрањен у Сједињеним Америчким Државама. Његови посмртни остаци су пренети у Задужбинску Цркву Светог Ђорђа на Опленцу 26.маја 2013.

 Аудио запис говора Њ.В. Краља Петра II од 6. септембра 1941. можете послушати на Јутјуб каналу Удружења Краљевина Србија на линку:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UHF50HBkRo&feature=youtu.be

http://kraljevinasrbija.com/?p=2264


*****

If  you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

***** 
 
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Bек од почетка битке на Гучеву (битка на Дрини Септембар 1914) - Aустроугарски каплар Јосип Броз и потпоручник војске Краљевине Србије, Драгољуб Михаиловић

September 8, 2014, 6:21 pm
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Лево – аустроугарски каплар Јосип Броз, на положају,
као припадник 42. домобранске дивизије
Десно – потпоручник војске Краљевине Србије, Драгољуб Михаиловић на Солунском фронту
 
Autor: Урош Парезановић
 
"08. cептембар 1914, век од почетка битке на Гучеву, вођене у оквиру друге аустроугарске офанзиве у Првом светском рату. О овој офанзиви и бици се годинама из идеолошких разлога врло мало знало. Зашто? Зато што је у тој бици настала ова фотографија "највећег сина наших народа и народности"како нишани на припаднике једног од тих народа. Слика која показује да званична прича о његовом "робовању због анти ратних ставова"није тачна.
 
http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/naslovna/reportaze/aktuelno.2...93.html:452873-Gucevo---prva-bitka-Broza-i-Draze 
 
"Лево – аустроугарски каплар Јосип Броз на положају, као припадник 42. домобранске – ВРАЖЈЕ дивизије, која је свој надимак у потпуности оправдала незапамћеним зверствима и злочинима које су њени припадници починили над српским народом у Мачви. За своје „заслуге“ у кампањама у Србији унапређен је у старијег водника.

"Десно – потпоручник војске Краљевине Србије, Драгољуб Михаиловић на Солунском фронту, носилац Сребрне медаље за храброст (1913.), Златне медаље за храброст (1915.), Енглеског војног крста (1917.) и Ордена белог орла са мачевима IV реда (1918.). Официр који је после тешког рањавања одбио да оде у позадину, него је захтевао да се врати на фронт и кога је у својој наредби од 05. јуна 1917. пред целом Првом армијом похвалио лично војвода Живојин Мишић."


Урош Парезановић
September 2014


*****

If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

*****
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The American Airman and the Serbian Chetnik / Halyard Mission veteran Lt. Col. Milton Friend and Chetnik Nick ("Beli") Mihajlovich meet for the first time 70 years after history was made in Serbia!

September 8, 2014, 8:44 pm
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Mr. Nick ("Beli") Mihajlovich
St. Sava Monastery, Libertyville, IL
Photo by Aleksandra Rebic July 19, 2014

Aleksandra's Note:One of the great highlights of the Chetnik Family Reunion at St. Sava Monastery in Libertyville, IL on July 19, 2014 was the opportunity to meet Mr. Nick ("Beli") Mihajlovich. Thanks to his daughter Danica, who was also present, the two of us met for the first time and I learned that Nick was seeking to meet the living Halyard Mission veterans so that he could share his personal story of having lived through those historic days in 1944 in WWII Yugoslavia as a young boy.

Through subsequent correspondence with Nick's other daughter, Judy Mihajlovich, we were able to facilitate a meeting with Halyard Mission WWII veteran Lt. Col. Milton Friend of the USAF. Just one month after my learning of Nick's quest, he was becoming acquainted and sharing his story with Lt. Col. Friend in person, and it turned out to be an incredible, meaningful day for both of them and their loved ones.

What follows is a unique Halyard Mission true story that I hope you will enjoy. The first is Judy Mihajlovich's description of the August 2014 day she will never forget and the second is Nick Mihajlovich's story. Many thanks to Judy for sharing this wonderful testimony with us.

Shortly after the day they spent together, Lt. Col. Friend shared with me how pleased and grateful he was for the unique opportunity to meet one of the Serbians he values so much and how much he enjoyed the day.

God bless the veterans, both American and Serbian, who kept their vivid memories alive all these years and for sharing them with all of us so that we may carry their legacy on. And thank you to them for never forgetting what General Mihailovich and his Chetniks did for the Allies in the hard days of 1944.

Sincerely,

Aleksandra Rebic

Mr. Nick ("Beli") Mihajlovich and daughter Danica
St. Sava Monastery, Libertyville, IL
Photo by Aleksandra Rebic July 19, 2014
 
*****

Left: Lt. Col. Milton Friend (USAF, Ret.) in a traditional Serbian cap,
and Nick ("Beli") Mihajlovich
Photo by Judy Mihajlovich August 20, 2014. 


"An American Airman and a Chetnik"
By Judy Mihajlovich
August 2014

A meeting that felt both historic and at the same time so very personal, watching these two men, who had never met before but shared an experience they both felt so passionate about, was electric!
 
On Wednesday August 20th we went to Boynton Beach, Florida so that my dad (Nick ‘Beli’ Mihajlovich) could meet with Lt. Col. (ret.) Milton Friend, one of the ‘Forgotten 500’.  Along with my mom (Olga) we arrived at the home of Milton and Shirley Friend in a beautiful gated community in Boynton Beach.  They greeted us at the door, Tata gave pink roses to ‘the lady of the house’ and then Milton came out and greeted us with handshakes and kisses.  We were not in their home for more than sixty seconds when the two of them began to speak animatedly, so anxious to tell the other one their own story and at the same time ask questions they both had clearly thought about for a long time!  Questions were flying between the two ofthem: "Where did you land when you had to parachute in?  Do you remember the dates you escorted the airmen?  What village are you from?  Where were you hiding?  What roads did you take?" and on and on and on...
 
Mrs. Friend (Shirley) and I were desperate to get them to pause…. to give us a chance to get our cameras and video set up!  She’d prepared a beautiful lunch and the plan had been to sit down over lunch to get acquainted before the two of them would sit together to speak with each other, to share their experiences, to share their memorabilia and to ask questions they’ve wanted to ask of an airman and a Chetnik for a very long time.  They had other ideas!
 
We eventually sat down to the lovely lunch Shirley prepared.  Everyone shared their background and the two couples shared stories of their families.  Milton was fascinated to learn my dad’s story of being the youngest of four brothers and becoming a young Chetnik when he turned sixteen; anxious to join the others in the fight for freedom.  How he eventually escaped from the communists, going underground and finding his way to Italy.  Never dreaming he would be able to immigrate to the United States…then the fateful day Svetozar Maravich arrived at the Camp with the list of those to be sponsored by the Serbian Orthodox Church in the United States!  Incredibly his name was on the list and just as Mr. Maravich promised…two months later he was on his way to America.
 
Milton told of his family’s military history.  One of four brothers as well, he and his twin brother were both decorated Air Force veterans who flew countless missions in World War II, Korea and Viet Nam.  Incredibly committed to protecting and serving our country, these brothers served in some of the most critical situations putting their lives in danger for decades.
 
We were struck and humbled by the display of Serbian memorabilia in their home.  The photos of Draza Mihailovich…the Serbian flag…his sajkaca (Chetnik hat)!...the storyboards that showed his plane, a picture of the type of German bomber that attacked them…photos of Serbian villagers and airmen together… Countless articles written about his story where he praised the Serbian people endlessly for their courage and commitment to the wellbeing of the American airmen.  The list goes on and on…
 
In 2010 the Friends [Milton and Shirley] traveled to Serbia so that Milton could testify at the trial for Draza.  When my dad asked how he was able to do this when no one there really wanted to hear from Americans wanting to speak on behalf of Draza and the Chetniks, Milton replied, "No one was going to stop me!"  After he testified, the Friends traveled across Serbia on that trip meeting people and seeing what they described as a ‘beautiful country’ from Belgrade to Oplenac and many points of interest in between.  Shirley shared the story of their arrival. Landing in Belgrade she expected to collect their luggage and find their way to the hotel.  But when the doors of the baggage hall opened they walked out into a complete frenzy!  There were hundreds of people cheering and waving welcoming banners.  The media was there and covered their arrival across all the news outlets.  She said, "We were treated like rock stars!"  My dad was bursting with pride hearing them tell this story.  When she finished telling us about their trip she showed us a beautiful scrap book filled with photos of the people they met, the places they’d visited across Serbia and then she showed us one particularly stunning memento of that trip.  A beautifully painted wooden icon of St. George.
 
Milton prepared a binder for my father.  It included copies of news articles, photos and a copy of the story he has written about his own experiences and rescue by the Serbs.  Every page reflects his love and respect for Draza’s Chetniks and  the Serbian people in general.  Along with the other ‘Forgotten 500’ he would love to see the real story of this great rescue brought to life on the big screen.
 
Milton lights up when he speaks of his meetings with Draza and the way he led the Chetniks to deliver every one of the airmen to safety.  His own story began when he parachuted in on June 6, 1944 and landed high up in a tree.  Two men and a young boy cut him down from that tree and hid him in the back of an ox cart and took him up into the mountains.  He was kept alive and safe in Serbia for over sixty days before being rescued.  Like the others he eventually arrived in Pranjani, the makeshift airfield the Americans and Serbians built together (without tools or equipment), where the planes could sneak in to rescue the airmen.  He left Serbia on August 10th, 1944 (ironically my father’s birthday).
 
My father was not one of the men involved in Milton’s rescue but was responsible for helping nine other airmen in early July.  On that day as a young Chetnik his village Commander asked if he knew how to go from their village of Godacica to Pecenog.  When he described how he would make the journey the commander pointed to a group of men sitting near the municipal building and said his orders were to escort those men.  When my father asked who they were the commander only replied they were ‘our allies’. He said, "I hold you responsible" and then he pulled out his gun, held it to my father’s forehead and said, "If anything happens to any of these men, this is what you will get."  With that as a sendoff, he took them on their journey and safely delivered these men to the next checkpoint on their way to Pranjani.  He told Milton one of the men wrote something on a piece of paper but in a language he didn’t understand…he threw the paper away.  He says this is one of the greatest regrets he has to this day. (I have attached his own short story to this note.) [See below.]
 
Over the years Milton has told his story to the media, given speeches to students and other organizations, telling the story of the events of seventy years ago with as much passion and love as if they’d happened yesterday.  He says, "This was the greatest rescue of American servicemen in our United States history…by one of the greatest men…Draza Mihailovich, and his Chetniks."
 
He says our friends are the Serbian people. Included among the small Serbian related gifts we gave them was a copy of the 100th Anniversary book of the St. George Serbian Church of East Chicago, Indiana. This book chronicals the history of the many families in our Church, several of whom fought the battle before immigrating.  We wanted to show them that the younger generations continue to keep the history alive.  He loved it!
 
Listening to this man speak about it all with such love and passion in his voice so impressed my father and mother and brought tears to my eyes.
 
Watching and listening to these two men speak with each other was an experience I will never forget as long as l live.
 
 
Judy Mihajlovich
August 2014

*****

Left: Lt. Col. Milton Friend and Nick ("Beli") Mihajlovch
Photo by Judy Mihajlovich August 20, 2014.
 
Left to right: Olga Mihajlovich, Nick's wife, Lt. Col. Milton Friend,
Nick Mihajlovich, and Shirley Friend, Milton's wife.
Photo by Judy Mihajlovich August 20, 2014.
 
Left to right: Shirley Friend, Milton's wife, Nick Mihajlovich,
Lt. Col. Milton Friend, and Olga Mihajlovich, Nick's wife.
Photo by Judy Mihajlovich August 20, 2014.
 
*****


A young Chetnik’s story...
By Nick (Beli) Mihajlovich

April 6, 1941

Germany and Italy along with their satellites attacked the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and occupied it within just two weeks.  I was 15 years old at the time.  I enjoyed listening to old warriors as they proudly talked about past wars and now they were disappointed, confused, and some were saying this occupation would last forever because all of Europe was under Nazi occupation.

We did not hear even one gun fired, but the news was about capitulation and Germany mobilized their military; they were thundering on our highways from Kragujevac to Kraljevo heading south.  Suddenly we heard an officer by the name of Dragoljub ‘Draza’ Mihailovich declared he would not recognize capitulation.  Instead, he would continue to fight the invaders and his starting point was Ravna Gora (flat forest).  He had a few officers with him that he dispatched to some locations throughout Serbia with instructions to organize and arm and most of all to train young men aged sixteen and older.  I turned sixteen on August 10, 1941 and joined the training center above the village of Zimovnik.


Our village of Godacica was part of the Ravna Gora movement.  The head of our local Ravna Gora organization was Commander Milorad Curlic, and the secretary was our school teacher (I have forgotten his name).  Milorad was a very respected man and if he asked us to do something, we did it….no questions asked.  One Saturday morning early in July 1944 I was with my cousin Dragisa and we walked from our staro celo to Godacica to find out our schedule for the following week. Most of the time our duties included guarding the roads around Godacica and other services.  That day we met Commander Curlic, and he asked if I knew the village of Pecenog and if I were to go there what direction I would take.  I explained the route I would take:  through the village of Panjevac then Milakovac followed by crossing the railroad and highway to Pecenog.  He said, "Very good.  Do you see those men sitting in front of the municipal building?  You are going to escort them to Pecenog."  I asked who they were and he only replied they were our allies. He then said, "I hold you responsible," and he pulled out his gun, held it to my forehead and said, "If anything happens to any of these men, this is what you will get."
 
There were nine of them, my cousin followed behind the group so no one would get lost.  One was injured and limping so we had to walk slowly so he could walk using a piece of wood as a crutch.  We walked a long time and then came upon wild blackberries beside the road.  They were so sweet and we stopped for a few minutes so they could eat them.  Then we had to go so I said “Hajde, hajde!" (come on let’s go!)  They didn’t understand me, they just repeated my words until I had to yell "HAJDE, HAJDE!!!"  and motioned for them to quickly follow.  I was so afraid to take too long because we had to cross the highway which was patrolled by the Germans.  We made it safely to the next meeting point.  We met the next escorts in Pecenog.  When I left the nine of them I saluted each of them to indicate I was leaving them with their next escort.  One of these men found a piece of paper and wrote something on it.  He handed it to me and I saluted them again and they all saluted back as though on command.
 
As Dragisa and I walked back to Godacica I looked at the piece of paper.  It seemed to be an address but it was written in a language I didn’t understand.  They didn’t speak Serbian and I had no idea what language they spoke!  So never dreaming I would ever have the need for it, I threw the piece of paper away.  This is my biggest regret to this day.
 
When we got back I reported to Commander Curlic that the mission was accomplished and the nine men were safely escorted to their destination.  He said, ‘Thank you very much."
 
I said, "May I ask who those men were that we escorted?"  He said, "Yes, they are Americans and I could not tell you this before because if the Germans captured you they would have forced you to tell them everything about our secret airport at Pranjani."  The Americans were bombing the petrol fields and refineries in Romania which supplied fuel for the German military.  This was happening throughout the spring and summer of 1944.  On their return these airmen were forced to parachute into Yugoslavia when their planes were attacked.
 
We were Chetniks and we had our orders...to protect and save them at all costs and escort them to Pranjani.
 
 
Nick (Beli) Mihajlovich

*****

To read about Lt. Col. Milton Friend's story, please feel free to go to:

http://www.generalmihailovich.com/2014/08/marking-70th-anniversary-of-halyard.html

Marking the 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HALYARD MISSION RESCUE OPERATION OF WWII August 2014 / Lt. Col. Milton Friend of the USAF, Halyard Mission veteran, desires American debt to General Mihailovich repaid.

*****

If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

*****

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Another Halyard Mission American Airman goes to his final rest...CURTIS "BUD" DILES dies September 10, 2014 - MEMORY ETERNAL.

September 10, 2014, 7:24 am
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Curtis "Bud" Diles celebrating his 89th birthday July 15, 2014.
Photo courtesy of Diane Diles Hammond.

ANOTHER ONE GOES TO HIS FINAL REST...

HALYARD MISSION AMERICAN AIRMAN CURTIS "BUD" DILES DIED LAST NIGHT, ON SEPTEMBER 10, 2014.

SUCH A WONDERFUL LIFE HE LIVED AND SUCH A GREAT LEGACY HE LEFT BEHIND.

As an American Serb who has known Curtis for many years and called him "Friend", I feel the loss deeply, and my thoughts are with his beautiful and glorious family who generously shared him with all of us.

GOD BLESS YOU, CURTIS DILES. YOUR MEMORY AND WORK WILL LIVE ON FOREVER.

We will make sure of that.

Sincerely,

Aleksandra Rebic
September 10, 2014


*****

If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

*****
↧

"THE DIPLOMA" - Remembering Voyvoda Momchilo Djujich / By Rade and Aleksandra Rebic September 11, 2014

September 11, 2014, 7:04 am
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Rade Rebic with Voyvoda Djujich monument
at St. Sava Monastery in Libertyville, IL
Photo by Aleksandra Rebic July 19, 2014

Aleksandra's Note:From 1960 to 1968, my father Rade Rebic was the Secretary of Voyvoda Momchilo Djujich's "Movement of Serbian Chetniks Ravne Gore" organization.  He remained a close and trusted confidant of Voyvoda's until the day Momchilo Djujich died, on September 11, 1999. The following is a personal story of my father's that I had not been aware of. I'm thankful to have the opportunity to share it with you. It is personal stories such as this that provide insight into the "man" that Voyvoda Djujich was, as well as being one of the great Chetnik commanders in Serbian history whose legacy continues to live and breathe in Serbian patriots throughout the world.
Sincerely,

Aleksandra Rebic
September 2014

*****


"THE DIPLOMA"
REMEMBERING VOYOVDA DJUJICH
 
A great giant of Serbian history passed away 15 years ago, in 1999, on September 11th.
 
I met Chetnik commander Voyvoda Momchilo Djujich for the first time when I was 19 years old. It was at the end of December 1944, when he brought his Dinarska Divizija (Dinara Division) to Gacka Dolina in Lika, where my Chetnik unit was stationed at that time during WWII in the former Yugoslavia. I was not part of the Dinarska Divizija, but after that our paths crossed quite a few times. It is one of these times that I remember best.
 
After the war ended, I resumed my schooling in the Displaced Person's camps. I had just completed the 8th grade of gimnazija (Velika matura) (Senior year of High School) in the camp in Eboli, Italy in June 1946. At that time the school had no funds, except for the most basic essentials. The directors of the school asked each of us graduates, myself included, to pay 200 Liras for printing our invididual Diplomas.
 
I did not have 200 Liras. As a matter of fact, I did not have one Lira, so I went to the HQ of my Regiment to see if they could help me. They couldn’t. So, I started back to my tent, sad and disappointed. I had put in a lot of effort to complete the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade of Gimnazija (Sophomore, Junior, and Senior years of High School) in this camp and was to end up without any official document confirming that I had done so.
 
On the way back to my tent I ran into a friend, Sinisha Chenich, who looked at my face and asked, “What is the matter with you?"
 
I told him.
 
“Go to your tent and I’ll be there shortly,” he said.
 
Sinisha went to the HQ of his Division and found there Voyvoda Djujich and a few others. He told Voyvoda about my case.
 
Without saying anything to Sinisha, Voyvoda turned to Bogde Drobac, who was the treasurer of the Division, and simply said, “Add his name (meaning mine) to the list of Division students.”
 
There were 14 of them, and the Division was paying for all of their Diplomas. So, I got my Diploma, my ticket to later studies in Germany and the USA.
 
Voyvoda was not only a giant of Serbian history, he was a visionary, not just in this case but in many, many others. His vision, combined with a sense of responsibility for the men he brought out of our tragic country, was responsible for building many Serbian Orthodox churches, cultural centers, and institutions in many parts of the world. They all proudly carry a Serbian name.
 
Way back then in 1946, as a young veteran of WWII, I thanked Voyvoda for the great favor he did for me. Now, almost 70 years later, I thank him again on this day, September 11, 2014, the 15th anniversary of his passing.


Rade Rebic
Chicago
September 2014

Three great leaders in the "Movement of Serbian Chetniks Ravne Gore,"
Prof. Stanko Dragosavljevic, Voyvoda Djujich, and Dragoslav Dragutinovic
in Mount Prospect, IL mid 1960's. Photo courtesy of Rade Rebic.


*****

If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

*****
 
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ДАН ВОЈВОДЕ МОМЧИЛА ЂУЈИЋА 13. Септембар 2014. - Парастос Војводи Момчилу Ђујићу, свим погинулим и свим преминулим четницима - СРБСКА СУБОТИЦА

September 12, 2014, 12:13 am
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Војвода Момчило Р. Ђујић
 
 
 
Парастос се служи у Храму Св. Вазнесења Господњег, улица Змај Јовина у Србској Суботици [13. Септембар 2014.]
 
После парастоса поделићемо један број четничких календара за 2015. годину а биће и послужење за све присутне. Потом идемо на Водице положити цвеће на бисту Њ.В. Србском Краљу Петру I. Карађорђевићу, где ће бити и послужење за све присутне те наступ србских народних гуслара. Истог дана је и полагање четничке заклетве.
 
Почетак парастоса Војводи Момчилу Ђујићу је у 10 часова, али треба доћи у 9.30 часова у храм Светог Вазнесења Господњег у Србској Суботици.
 
Ни у вољи ни невољи, нико од нас није бољи.
 
Ни у срећи ни несрећи, нико од нас није већи!
 
С поштовањем, Србски четнички Војвода Бора 064 11 92 760
 
С ВЕРОМ У БОГА ЗА КРАЉА И ОТАЏБИНУ - СЛОБОДА ИЛИ СМРТ !
 
*****
 
АМАНЕТ ВОЈВОДЕ МОМЧИЛА ЂУЈИЋА

Наш завјет Богу и Српству

Није наше расејање и губитак слободе највеће зло које се може десити једном народу.Највеће је зло кад се сломи духовна и морална снага једног народа, кад му се угаси вјера у Бога и вјера у Правду и Слободу. То нико, па ни комунисти, никада неће постићи у српском народу, јер то се неда у ланце везати. борби за Крст и Слободу.

Ми се морамо враћати на путеве наших предака; свједочити свуда нашу вјеру у Бога и рјечију и дјелом;стајати одлучно уз мученичку Матер цркву и чувати наше духовно јединство, jер без духовног јединства нема ни националног, ни ма каквог другог јединства; утврђивати нашу братску слогу и његовати наше црквене и народне обичаје.Наш је завет Богу и Српству да нећемо стати ни сустати док неујединимо све српске земље и сав српски народ у оквиру српске државне заједнице у којој ће, по ријечима Епископа Николаја, владати три начела: Бог на небу, Краљ у држави и домаћин у дому.

А наша вјера у Правду и Слободу и наша вјера у једнога Бога, у једнога Светог Саву, једну јединствену Српско-православну цркву и у један поносан и непобједив српски народ - остаје вјечна и непромјењива.


Војвода Момчило Р. Ђујић


*****

If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me atravnagora@hotmail.com

*****
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OBITUARY and FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS - CURTIS "BUD" DILES, JR. / Being laid to rest on Monday September 15, 2014

September 12, 2014, 12:48 am
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Diane Diles Hammond, daughter of Curtis "Bud" Diles, and Curtis
celebrating his 89th birthday July 15, 2014.
Photo courtesy of Diane.
 
FROM DIANE DILES HAMMOND
September 11, 2014

"I could not bring myself to type these words until now, but I think most of you already know. I lost my dear daddy Wednesday morning. The world has lost a great and honorable man…an American (and Serbian) hero. It doesn't seem real. As I left his hospital room Tuesday night, I prayed with him, kissed him on his forehead, held his hand, and told him I hoped he knew how very much I loved him and that he’d always be my hero. Although he stared into my eyes, he did not respond. I hope he understood. That was the last time I saw him alive. In my heart, I know he’s in heaven, no doubt, still trying to spread the truth about what the Serbians did for America in WWII. And everyone will respond “We already know that, Bud… it’s perfect up here. There are no lies. Your earthly mission is over”.

"Dad’s funeral is Monday [September 15, 2014], and he will have military graveside rites. He will be buried in his USA/Serbia shirt, and the Serbian land that Saša Jovanović gathered from the makeshift airstrip will be placed in the casket with him. As dad would want it, the Serbian flag will be on display (and of course, the American flag will be, too).

"I promise you, dad… I will carry your torch. Keep the light on for me, and we’ll be home soon. I love you!

"Thanks to everyone for the overwhelming outpouring of love and support. You have been such a blessing.

"I've attached his obituary. Turn your sound on to hear the music."

Diane Diles Hammond
September 11, 2014


Curtis "Bud" Diles September 21, 2013
Photo courtesy of daughter Diane Diles Hammond.
 
Ralph F. Scott Funeral Home, Inc.
Portsmouth, Ohio
 
 
Curtis "Bud" Diles, Jr., age 89, of Huber Heights, Ohio passed away Wednesday, September 10 at Miami Valley Hospital after a long illness.  He was born July 15, 1925 in New Boston, a son of the late Curtis and Lena Belford Diles, Sr.

He is survived by his loving wife of 66 years, Inez L. Pruitt Diles, whom he married in Portsmouth Sept. 25, 1948; children Dennis (Bev) Diles of Chaska, Minnesota, Teresa (Jack) Guidry, Janis “Diane” (Chuck) Hammond, and Tamara (John) Meese, all of Huber Heights; 15 grandchildren; and 7  great grandchildren. He is also survived by sisters Sonja (Bill) Rice of Reynoldsburg, Deloris Walker of Minford; and brothers Paul (Sarah) of Sarasota, Florida, and Alva "Sonny" (Jean) of  Chillicothe; and many nieces and nephews.

He was a devoted, loving, and generous husband, father, and grandfather. His greatest treasure was his family.  He delighted in sharing his great wisdom and always had an idea to improve things. He never stopped analyzing and believed that an idle mind was the devil’s workshop.  He was “Mr. Fix It” and was an exemplary machinist.  No doubt, he is tinkering in heaven at this moment.

He was a dedicated member of the First Christian Church of Huber Heights.  Although he often struggled to understand the message due to his hearing impairment, he faithfully attended “just to show whose side he was on”.  As he was ushered into heaven into the loving arms of Jesus, we know exactly which side he’s on.

He was also a member of the VFW Post 3283, and an honorary Serbian.  He was a veteran of World War II, a Staff Sergeant serving in the Army Air Corps from 1943-1945. He was shot down while in his B-24 bomber behind enemy lines over Belgrade Yugoslavia on September 8, 1944  in the Halyard Mission, but was rescued by the Serbian Chetniks lead by General Draza Mihailovich. Had it not been for Serbia, he and his descendants would not have been blessed with the gift of life.  The details of this incredible rescue are documented in the book “The Forgotten 500”, by Gregory Freeman.  It was his life’s mission to spread the truth to the world about the Serbians’ loyalty to America in WWII. For his service, Curt received the EAME Theater Ribbon with 1 silver star, the Air Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters, the Purple Heart, and the Good Conduct Medal. The country of Serbia also recently presented him with the Order of Karageorge's Star with Sword for 70 years of exceptional service in spreading the truth about Serbia and its WWII and post-war struggles.

After graduating from Portsmouth High School, he briefly worked at Wolford Machine Company in Portsmouth prior to being drafted into the service.  After the war, he returned to Wolford’s and also worked at Empire Detroit Steel Corporation in New Boston.  In 1974 he moved to Huber Heights where he managed the machine shop at Techmet/LaserMike, from which he retired in 1989.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sisters Doris Diles, Edna Stiltner, Lorraine Traber, Carolyn (Sue) Potts; and brothers Don, Jimmy, and Travis Diles.

Funeral services will be held at 1 pm Monday [Sept. 15, 2014] at the Ralph F. Scott Funeral Home in Portsmouth with Pastor David McClary officiating and interment in Memorial Burial Park. Military graveside rites will be conducted by the James Dickey Post #23 American Legion Honor Detail.

In honor of Mr. Diles' service to our country, the flag of the US Air Force will fly at the funeral home, and the flag of Serbia will be displayed.

The family will receive friends at the funeral home Sunday from 2 to 4 pm, and one hour prior to services Monday.

Online condolences may be shared at www.RalphFScott.com.

In lieu of flowers, please honor Dad’s last request:  “Google My Name”.  He will look down from Heaven and say “thanks”.


[When viewing the link, please turn on the sound]

http://www.ralphfscott.com/obits/obituary.php?id=496533

*****

If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

*****
 
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Трејлер за документарац ''Краљевина Југославија у Другом светском рату'', други серијал, епизоде 7-12. / Епизоде 7 и 8 биће готове ускоро.

September 14, 2014, 10:17 am
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Камера, тон, монтажа: Драган Вучковић
Анимације, монтажа: Бојан Крстић
Графика: Никола Бербаков
Музика. Дарко Андрић
Сценарио: Милослав Самарџић
Архивски интервјуи: Влада Момчиловић, Драган Крсмановић
Архивски снимци: Југословенска кинотека, Национални архив Вашингтон
Произведено: септембар 2014.
Продукција: НИП ''Погледи''

Епизоде 7 и 8 биће готове ускоро.

On Facebook:

Post by Милослав Самарџић.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=738642932868124&fref=nf


*****

If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra,
please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

*****

↧

Генерал Милан Недић није пристао ни да само три српска војника пошаље на Стаљинград / Аутор - Никола МИЛОВАНЧЕВ / "Српски културни клуб" September 7, 2014

September 14, 2014, 11:33 am
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Српски културни клуб
Никола МИЛОВАНЧЕВ
September 7, 2014


С обзиром на притисак да Србија уведе санкције Русији, треба повући паралелу са још тежим временом, са притисцима нациста 1941/2 године да се српски војници пошаљу под Стаљинград, на руски фронт.

Тада је председник окупационе владе у Србији био генерал Милан Недић. Да заштити народ, прихватио је да буде сарадник окупатора. Али, у тој кључној ствари – слања српске војске на Источни фронт, под Стаљинград – није одступио од свог става: ниједан српски војник неће пуцати на руску браћу.

Вршили су се притисци на њега, али није попуштао, ни по цену свог смењивања или смењивања владе. Задњи покушај окупатора био је симболичан: да српска влада пошаље на руски фронт три (3) војника са једном српском заставом! И тај захтев Милан Недић је глатко одбио, знајући да му то историјско памћење српског народа никада не би опростило За Србе православне хришћане увођење санкција Русији значило би пропаст на духовном нивоу, то би било одрицање од себе самога и своје бити, губитак идентитета.

НАКОН увођења санкција Русији од стране земаља Запада, учестали су притисци да се Србија придружи тим санкцијама. Очито се не преза ни од најгрубљих притисака, којима је изложено руководство Србије, које је досад устрајавало у неувођењу санкција Русији и самим тим у одбрани виталних националних интереса.

У овом ставу, руководство Србије има подршку велике већине грађана Србије, као и подршку српских заједница у суседним земљама и српске дијаспоре.

Може се претпоставити да на политичкој сцени Србије, међу људима спонзорисаним из страних центара моћи, има и заговорника санкција, под плаштом „настављања пута евроинтеграција”. Међутим, они добро знају расположење народа, па се тренутно не оглашавају јавно.

Када размишљамо о политичкој ситуацији 2014. године и покушају увођења санкција Русији, не можемо а да не повучемо паралелу са једним још тежим временом, са притисцима нациста 1941/2 године да се српски војници пошаљу под Стаљинград, на руски фронт.

Тада је председник окупационе владе у Србији био генерал Милан Недић, који је иако српски родољуб (по узору на маршала Петена, француског родољуба), прихватио незахвалан посао вођења владе под страном окупацијом. Свестан да ће бити оптужен као колаборациониста после рата, узео је тај тежак терет на себе, да би пресекао стање у коме су вршене одмазде: 100 Срба за једног убијеног нацистичког војника.

Да заштити народ, прихватио је да буде сарадник окупатора. Међутим, генерал Милан Недић је знао да и у том положају постоје границе које се не могу прећи. И у кључној ствари – слања српске војске на Источни фронт, под Стаљинград – није одступио од свог става: ниједан српски војник неће пуцати на руску браћу.

Вршили су се притисци на њега, али није попуштао, ни по цену свог смењивања или смењивања владе. Задњи покушај окупатора био је симболичан: да српска влада пошаље на руски фронт три (3) војника са једном српском заставом! И тај захтев Милан Недић је глатко одбио, знајући да му то историјско памћење српског народа никада не би опростило.

И збиља, данас можемо у том питању да кажемо: хвала генералу Недићу што ниједан српски метак није испаљен на руску браћу, што наши непријатељи нису могли да се веселе томе.

Новодобно окупатори наступају суптилније, они су упаковани у целофан економске окупације и труде се да наступају под плаштом „демократије”. Мање је важно што су својим деловањем и шупљом, лако провидном реториком, огадили многим људима и саму реч „демократија”.

Сада су на дневни ред поставили политички захтев: да се Србија придружи санкцијама западних земаља против Русије.

Будимо отворени: сценарио гурања Украјине (а затим и Русије) у трагедију – припремљен је у политичким лабораторијима 2-3 града из којих сада долазе захтеви да се Русији уведу санкције (због јасноће: међу тим градовима свакако није Берлин).

Сценарио у погледу Русије у великој мери није успео јер Москва није ушла у замку која јој је спремана а у међувремену су, од маја до јула ове године, и многи људи на Западу (барем онај паметнији и честитији део) прогледали и прочитали злочиначки и бедно примитивни сценарио спремљен за изазивање братоубилачког рата у Украјини.

Четири су главна разлога зашто Србија не сме да уведе санкцији Русији. Кренућу по важности, онако како их ја видим:

1) Духовни и морални разлог.

За нас који смо православни хришћани, увођење санкција Русији значило би пропаст на духовном нивоу, то би било одрицање од себе самога и своје бити, губитак идентитета. И све то – за рачун оних који нам желе зло!

Ових дана навршава се 100 година од уласка Русије у I. светски рат. Свети цар Никола Романов ушао је у рат на страни Србије иако је знао да је Русија неспремна за рат (а унутрашњи непријатељи у Русији спремни и добро организовани) и да ризикује своју власт и опстанак Империје.

Превагнули су разлози који нису били ни економски, ни политички, ни војни. Можемо слободно рећи: превагнули су разлози, који су у сфери духовне димензије.

За оне који нису верујући, можемо навести и разлог моралности: зар уводити санкције некоме, ко те је подржавао задњу деценију у свим кључним питањима државног интегритета (Косово и Метохија), али и у неким другим важним питањима. Лошим вратити учињено добро? Било би то аморално!

Пустимо по страни неке небулозне трактате који спомињу неактивност Русије приликом распада Југославије 1991. и војног напада и отимања Косова 1999. године. И они сами знају да Русија 2014. није Русија из 1991 или 1999., када су, у транзицијском периоду, експоненти туђих економских центара моћи (привремено, на срећу) преузели већи део бруто производа Русије. Однос снага у самој Москви данас је другачији.

2) Политички разлог.

Увођење санкција Русији било би равно политичком самоубиству. Придружити се нападу на некога, ко ти је најпоузданији политички ослонац, било би не само без сваког политичког резона, већ управо сулудо.

3) Економски разлог.

Традиционално највећи економски партнери Србије били су и јесу земље централне Европе (Немачка, Италија итд.), Русија и земље бивше Југославије. Могућности сарадње са Русијом на економском пољу су огромне, скоро неограничене.

Са мало више рада, српски извоз у Русију, који се сада креће око десетак процената, могао би да пређе 20%. Могућности руских инвестиција у Србију такође су велике. Русија је стабилан добављач енергената Србији, а услови набавке гаса су повољни, потенцијали сарадње у енергетици јако добри.

Зар се одрећи свега тога низашта?

Србија мора да настави са пројектом Јужни ток. Сведоци смо да и државе Европске уније у суседству Србије (Мађарска, Аустрија) храбро штите своје важне економске интересе и настављају са пројектом гасовода Јужни ток.

Неувођење санкција Русији неће имати никакве негативне последице за односе са другим државама, а ЕУ интеграције – то је дуга прича са неизвесним исходом, коју ће друга страна растезати у недоглед. Скорог примања бити неће, а нико не зна шта ће се догађати у следећем периоду. Очито долазе врло турбулентна времена.

Из свега горе наведеног следи: Србија не сме да се придружи санкцијама против Русије и у том погледу треба подржати владајућу српску политику. Другачији став био би катастрофалан за српску државу, али и за српски народ у целини.

P.S.

Пре неколико дана сам гледао на Јутјубу један кратак футуристички филм украјинског политичара и политичког аналитичара Владислава Анатољевича Кривобокова, поборника евроазијског политичког концепта, и један његов текст, који су ме натерали на размишљање о политичким догађањима која се приближавају великом брзином.

Филм је снимљен 2012. и у њему се приказује рат у Украјини 2015. године. Ратна догађања – као распад Југославије 1991., као оно што гледамо на ТВ екранима у Украјини ових дана. Нисам могао да верујем! Погледао сам и коментаре из 2012. године: аутор је тада називан »смешним«. Међутим, догађаји које је предвидео почели су да се дешавају после само две године, чак брже од његових предвиђања.

Затим сам прочитао текст истог аутора из маја ове, 2014. В. А. Кривобоков у том чланку износи предвиђање, да ће до 2018. доћи до сукоба интереса САД и Европске уније, који ће те године резултирати распадом ЕУ. У овом (кратком) чланку је и један цитат немачког министра спољних послова Штајнмајера, у коме се упоређују ситуације из 1914. и 2014.

Ово значи да су и многи у политичким елитама свесни велике ратне опасности.

Догађаји крећу брзим током, у неизвесном правцу. Још има времена да памет надвлада, да се спрече рат и разарања у Европи.


Аутор – Никола МИЛОВАНЧЕВ
(аутор чланка је члан Српског либералног савета)


http://www.srpskikulturniklub.com/nedic-ni-tri-vojnika?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+srpskikulturniklub%2FHBqC+%28%D0%A1%D1%80%D0%BF%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8+%D0%BA%D1%83%D0%BB%D1%82%D1%83%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%B8+%D0%BA%D0%BB%D1%83%D0%B1%29


*****

If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

*****
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Guchevo: First Battle Between Broz and Draža - 1914 Battle of the Drina / "Reiss Institute" ["Novosti" Sept. 8, 2013] September 10, 2014

September 14, 2014, 1:30 pm
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General Draza Mihailovich

Josip Broz Tito

Reiss Institute
September 10, 2014
[English translation of original
"Novosti" article in Serbian by Boris Subašić
Vecernje Novosti Sept. 8, 2013 - last year]

99 years later, we’re back in the trenches where the 1914 Battle of the Drina took place, one of the fiercest in World War I. Hill 708, the grave of heroes that resisted Austro-Hungarian attacks for 55 days, was hidden from Serbia.

Photo: Vecernje Novosti Sept. 8, 2013.

Even 99 years later, endless trench lines, foxholes and craters from the Great War still crisscross and pit the ridges of mountains Gučevo, Boranja and Jagodnja – Serbia’s natural parapet on the right bank of the Drina. On September 7, 1914, the most terrible battle of the Great War began on the heights from Gučevo to Mačkov Kamen, during the second Austro-Hungarian invasion. Defending Hill 708 and Eminove Vode, thousands of Serb soldiers perished in 55 days of bloody fighting.

Older locals tell that long after the battle, the peak of Mt. Gučevo – scorched and stripped bare by artillery fire – would glow with an eerie green phosphorescence, from gasses released by unburied corpses. Eventually, the forests grew back and partly covered up the wounds of battle on the tortured ground. Yet not even a century of rain, snow and leaf deposits could fill in the hole that was once a bunker. A charred beam still sticks out of the ground. Some ways away are remnants of a stone wall protecting a machine-gun position. If one scratches the earth beneath the thick layer of leaves, it is easy to find expended bullet casings, shrapnel, or pieces of bone. Human. But no one comes to this terrible and holy place to so much as light a candle.

“The only people that come through here are foresters, loggers and an occasional hiker,” says Žarko Ćosović, chairman off the „Battle of Drina Memorial Society“ from the nearby Banja Koviljača. “No one knows this is the grave of heroes who held the Austro-Hungarian invader for 55 days from breaking through. Serbia was made to forget this place.”

As we crossed the three kilometers of muddy forest trails between the Gučevo’s Crni Vrh plateau – where a memorial ossuary has been built – to the “bloody Hill 708″, Ćosović told us about the battle. In 1914, Gučevo was the gateway to the Jadar valley and the road towards Valjevo. Commander of Austria-Hungary’s Balkans expedition, Oskar Potiorek, wanted to take Gučevo at any cost: he sent 125,000 men, 165 cannons and 92 machine-guns. The Gates of Serbia were defended by 60,000 Serbian soldiers, 88 cannons always short of ammunition, and 43 machine guns.

“There were 180,000 men fighting over a 10-kilometer front,” says Ćosović, pointing to the old parapets lining the forest trail. Left, down the slope, are the Serb positions. On the right, above, Austrian. “The famous photograph of Broz in Austrian uniform, as he aims below at the Serbian trenches (see here), was taken at Gučevo,” Ćosović notes bitterly.

WW1 collage: Josip Broz (left) and Dragoljub Mihailovich (right),
via Uroš Parezanović.
[Note: Photo of Tito - 1914. Photo of Draza on Salonika Front 1918] 

Vienna’s hope on the Gučevo front was the 42. Croatian Home Guards Division, which earned the sobriquet “Devils” through unprecedented atrocities against civilians in Mačva. These atrocities were covered up in both Yugoslavias, as they had been committed by regiments from Zagreb, Karlovac, Sisak, Osijek, Varaždin, Sinj, Otočac, Sarajevo, Tuzla, Mostar…

“They were the most fanatical Austro-Hungarian soldiers. To the calls of Serbian defenders, ‘Don’t shoot! We’re brothers!’ they would respond with withering fire,” Ćosović tells us.

As we approach the peak, the network of trenches becomes denser. At Eminove Vode, they are but ten steps away.  “The Serbian Army was running out of artillery ammunition, while the enemy constantly shelled the peak of Gučevo to cover the advance of their infantry,” Ćosović tells as we walk down the trench snaking between the trees. “This is why soldiers of the Drina and Combined divisions would dig trenches during the night to get as close to the enemy as possible. They would use grenades and bayonets to retake positions from which Austrian cannon fire had pushed them back. It was the longest and most horrible close-combat battle [for Serbia] in the Great War,” he concludes.

“The Battle of Drina was the first real case of trench warfare in World War One, a preview of the Western Front before the lines had stabilized in northern France,” says historian Dragan Krsmanović, retired colonel and former director of the Military Historical Archive. He is the expert the Battle of Drina Memorial Society engaged to lead the project of marking a trail through the Gučevo battlefield, so it would be rescued from oblivion.

Scars of battle are still deep, especially from the sapper battles fought at Gučevo, first of the Great War. Giant craters, 16 meters wide and about 7 meters deep bear witness to them. Amateur historian Mića Tomić, who is gathering testimonials about the Great War, let us in on their secret. “My grandpa’, a miner and sergeant in the Drina Division, dug under the Austrian positions and blew them up,” says Tomić. At the end of September 1914, the Austro-Hungarians brought up fresh forces and began to push back the Serbs from Eminove Vode, below Hill 708. Serbian miners, such as Tomić’s grandfather, dug tunnels under the enemy and demolished them. The explosion looked like an erupting volcano.

The autumn of 1914 was very wet and foggy. It often rained, and the battle was fought in the clouds. Serb firing positions would hang on the steepest slopes, like swallow-nests, out of reach of Austro-Hungarian artillery. The enemy responded by using incendiaries and poison gas. Serbian heroes withstood that as well, though their supply situation was desperate.

“Frontline troops are suffering the greatest shortage of footwear, clothing and camping equipment. Vast numbers of recruits are fighting in their threadbare peasant clothes. There are regiments that nearly barefoot force-march across great distances and enter fighting completely barefoot,” wrote War leader Stepa Stepanović with bitterness to the government in Niš. Contractors would charge for equipment that never reached the front lines, while the Allies were not sending the ammunition they had promised in exchange for a bloody and futile Serbian attack in Syrmia.

“We are almost out of ammo for mountain guns and howitzers. On the Gučevo-Kostajnik front, our mountain batteries fell silent when their help was needed the most”, wrote to the government the commander of the Third Army, Pavle Jurišić Šturm.

Even so, the Austro-Hungarian infantry could nott seize the mountain range from Gučevo to Mačkov Kamen. “The unbreakable will of Serbs to fight has thwarted multiple times even those successes achieved over several days and with great sacrifice,” an Austro-Hungarian division reported from Gučevo.

When his cannons failed to drive off the Serbian army, Potiorek sent the 25th Zagreb Regiment to Hill 708. In it were Josip Broz, Vlatko Maček, Miroslav Krleža, and probably also Svetozar Pribićević, a Serb from Croatia. All of them were prominent political figures in both the Kingdom of Yugoslavia [Maček and Pribićević] and the Socialist Federated Yugoslavia [Broz and Krleža] – and for that reason, the story of the Battle of Drina was kept a secret. More so, because one of the defenders of Gučevo was Dragoljub Mihailović, sergeant in the Third Reinforced Regiment of the Drina Division. “Gučevo was the first battle between Draža and Tito, in which Broz lost. His company was completely defeated, and he never forgot that,” says Col. Krsmanović.

Even though the battle on Mt. Gučevo was crucial for the eventual collapse of the Austro-Hungarian invasion, it was kept out of history books almost entirely. “One reason is that Gučevo demonstrated the errors of the Serbian government and military command,” says Col. Krsmanović, former director of the Military Historical Archive. “But a more important reason was that Gučevo demonstrated how our ‘Yugoslav brothers’ were willing to fight against the Serbs and commit atrocities against civilians. After the 1918 unification, it became politically incorrect to point this out.”

“Gučevo and the whole Battle of Drina were a taboo subject during Communism,” says Aleksandar Dumić. “My father earned the Star of Karageorge on Gučevo. During the retreat across Albania, he carried the old King Petar on his back. At Kajmakčalan he lost his right arm. His family was killed by the Austro-Hungarians. After the Second World War, the Communists took away his house. When I started High School, the teacher made me stand before the class and told everyone, ‘This is the son of a pathetic hero that fought for nothing, for the king and his oppressors’. Only then did I find out my father was a war hero. He wouldn’t let us talk about the Balkan Wars or the Great War in the house, but it didn’t matter. Tito never forgave the heroes of Gučevo for driving him out of Serbia,” Dumić says as we wade through the trenches at Eminove Vode.

Col. Krsmanović points out that Sergeant Broz of the “Devil’s Division” was decorated for his actions on the Serbian front. “He advanced very quickly for a NCO, and no doubt took part in battles in Mačvi, then on the Drina, most likely at the Ada Kurjačica and Jelave bridgeheads, and after that on the ridges of Gučevo,” says Col. Krsmanović “Since he was a scout, he certainly interrogated prisoners and had contact with civilians, which directly links him to Austro-Hungarian atrocities. There was no documentation of his conduct in the war that I could find, but I did run across a story of him being arrested for an attempted rape. His hagiographers changed that to arrest for antiwar propaganda, but that is entirely not true. This is why the Battle of Drina is still a sore subject, still hidden behind the veil of silence.” he concludes.

Yet the world had heard about Gučevo as early as 1915. Six months after the battle, American journalist John Reed toured the killing fields and filed a harrowing report:
“On one side of the no-man’s-land were Serbian trenches, Austrian on the other. Barely a dozen yards apart. The ground between the trenches had been turned into irregular clumps of dirt. Taking a better look, we saw with horror that the clumps were really pieces of uniform, skulls with hair matted to them, bloody bones sticking out of combat boots. We were walking on the dead. There were so many, our feet would sometimes slip into a pile of rotting meat, crushing the bones. For six miles along the ridge of Guchevo, the dead were stacked like that, ten thousand of them.”

“For years I would hear the locals talk about herding cattle on Gučevo, on fields covered with human bones,” says Žarko Ćosović. “A few years ago, an old shepherd found a bayonet sticking out of the ground, and began to dig. He dug up a skeleton of a kneeling man with a rifle in his hands. It was a Serbian soldier, who had been preparing leap out of his foxhole when he was buried alive by an explosion.”

POTIOREK’S USTASHA

Oskar Potiorek, a Germanized Slovene, was the commander of the Austro-Hungarian Balkans expedition. He pathologically hated the Serbs, and would say that Austria-Hungary would know no peace until Serbia was on her knees. His greatest hope in battles on Mt. Gučevo was the 42nd Croatian Home Guards Division.

“Its commander was Stjepan Sarkotić, a great enemy of Serbs and Yugoslavia,” says Col. Krsmanović. “Between the end of the Great War and 1929, he would be in charge of the ‘Croatian Committee’ in Vienna, literally the forerunner of the Ustasha – his successor at the head of the Committee was Ante Pavelić.”

Another member of the 25th Regiment, alongside Josip Broz and Vlatko Maček, was Slavko Štancer, who would become the top officer in the [Nazi] Croatian Army in 1941.

THE DARK OSSUARY

Only some of the bones of those who died in Battle of Drina were buried at the ossuary in Gučevo, built in 1929 as a private endeavor of the Union of Reserve Officers and Veterans. Croatian politicians opposed any attempt to commemorate the battle.

“No one could bury the people who had been pulverized into the ground,” says Ćosović as we tour the ossuary. “All of Mt. Gučevo is their eternal rest. That’s why we are begging the state to help just a little bit, after 99 years, and build a forest trail so people can come and honor the heroes who gave their lives for Serbia.”

From the hilltop, one can see all of Mačva, the Drina valley, and Bosnia – from which iron rain came down for 55 days in the autumn of 1914.

“A piece is missing from the Serbian coat-of-arms on the monument,” says Ćosović, “Stone benches with the sleeping lions, guarding the bones of the fallen, have cracked.

Someone stole pieces of the wrought-iron fence, and the wiring for the floodlights that had shined upon the monument. Once you could see it from afar, like a lighthouse. Now it has vanished into darkness. I fear that fate will befall Serbia, too, as it forgets its heroes.”



(Translation by the Reiss Institute. Fair use only, all rights reserved)

http://www.reiss-institute.org/articles/guchevo-first-battle-between-broz-and-draza/

Original article in the Serbian language from September 8, 2013:

http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/naslovna/reportaze/aktuelno.293.html:452873-Gucevo---prva-bitka-Broza-i-Draze


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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

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"DRAZIN DAN WEEKEND" IN BINBROOK (HAMILTON) CANADA CULMINATES A JULY FILLED WITH MIHAILOVICH REMEMBRANCES AND TRIBUTES / Friday July 25 - Sunday July 27, 2014

July 23, 2014, 8:23 pm
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Aleksandra's Note: I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to attend this "Drazin Dan" event last summer in July 2013 and was so thoroughly pleased with the warm and generous hospitality and spirit of these genuine Serbian patriots. It was my very first visit to Canada and the wonderful experience left me looking forward to returning for more visits in the future. Thank you, Canadian Serbs, for keeping the Chetnik legacy flourishing! You've got a lot to be proud of!

Sincerely,

Aleksandra Rebic

 
 
 
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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra,
please feel free to contact me atravnagora@hotmail.com
 
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Празничне молитве на месту натопљеном српском крвљу - Јасеновац y петак 12. и суботу 13. септембра 2014. / Memorial service, vespers and Divine Liturgy: St John the Baptist Monastery in Jasenovac Sept. 12-13, 2014

September 17, 2014, 7:07 am
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Архимандрит Пантелејмон
Orthodox Serbia South Africa


Church feast and prayers at the place soaked in the blood of innocent Orthodox Serbs (Memorial service, vespers and Divine Liturgy: St John the Baptist Monastery in Jasenovac - a martyred town, on Friday 12th and Saturday 13th of September 2014)

У петак 12. и суботу 13. септембра [2014], на дан прослављања светих Јасеновачких Новомученика, велики број верног народа, црквени великодостојници, свештенство и монаштво, сабрали су се у манастиру св. Јована Крститеља у Јасеновцу да саборно узнесу молитве светим Јасеновачким Новомученицима. Величанствен православни скуп и духовни празник.

У овој светињи сам провео последњих пет месеци и уверио се да, осим овог празника, веома мали број људи долази у највећи српски мученички град Јасеновац (700 000 убијених Срба) и православну светињу која нам је овде једина брана од заборава и отуђења. Тако је бар последњих двадесетак година.

На недавно одржаном симпозијуму у Бањалуци, један Јеврејин рече да је несхватљиво колико су Срби немарни према милионима невино пострадалих сународника, према геноциду који су претрпели и местима њихових великомученичких страдања. Он сведочи да нема већег места страдања на планети (па ни значајнијег града) где они - Јевреји, нису изградили свој музеј, меморијални центар, синагогу, споменик, архивску зграду, обележје.... где су страдали и где је проливана њихова крв и да веома воде рачуна о свим тим местима и старају се о њима.

Ових дана сам разговарао са гостима који су посетили манастир у Јасеновцу (свештенством и монаштвом) и предложио да у својим местима, светињама, парохијама и манастирима апелују, саветују, подижу ниво националне и духовне свести и организују поклоничка путовања у Јасеновац.

Господ и Великомученици Јасеновачки би нас погледали и благосиљали, а овај мученички град оживео боготражитељским окупљањима, националном самосвешћу, вером и духовном снагом.

Рекао сам да васкршњу радост доноси сама помисао на реке духовно и национално пробуђених Срба које би се редовно сливале у јасеновачку светињу. Колико је наших парохија и манастира у отаџбини и расејању, сигуран сам да би то било могуће са врло мало труда и страха Божијег.

За то је неопходна пробуђена национална и духовна свест. Дужно поштовање према својим светим прецима, на првом месту страдалницима који су најскупоценији дар - живот, положили за нас и нашу будућност. Неопходна је и вера у вечни живот и свест да су два света, привремени и вечни, земаљски и небески, веома чврсто повезани и испреплетани и имају велики мећусобни утицај.

Нас десетак милиона данашњих Срба, гледају очи стотине милиона Срба из вечности, моле се за нас Богу, радују се нашим врлинама и тугују због наших грехова. Са љубављу гаје наду да ћемо се показати достојни српског православног имена и да ћемо бити достојни потомци њихови.

Нека би Господ Бог дао да духовно напредујемо вером и љубављу, трудом, жртвом, добрим делима и родољубљем да бисмо доживели и дочекали, када напустимо овај свет и пређемо у вечност, да нас наши свети преци препознају као своје достојне потомке!

Благослов светих Јасеновачких Новомученика нека буде са свима вама!

Архим. Пантелејмон






































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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra,
please feel free to contact me atravnagora@hotmail.com
 
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Кертис Дајлс: Одлазак хероја / Пише: Саша Јовановић / "Pogledi" September 15, 2014

September 17, 2014, 6:00 pm
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Pogledi
Саша Јовановић


Кертис Дајлс са сликама из Прањана 2014
 
Пише: Саша Јовановић

У среду, 10. септембра ове године преминуо је ваздухопловни наредник Кертис „Бад“ Дајлс (Sgt. Curtis„Bud“ Diles).

Претпостављам да можда већ знате да је наредник Дајлс, са чијом породицом сам се веома зближио у последњих неколико месеци, Американац који је Србију и Србе волео највише на свету. Дословце и буквално. Читавих 70 година, све до своје смрти која га је задесила на 70. годишњицу његовог спашавања у слободним српским планинама. Наредник Дајлс је био један од „500 заборављених“ учесника „Мисије Халијард“. Оборен је 8. септембра 1944. у близини Београда при повратку са мисије изнад Плоештија у Румунији. Спашен је од стране снага ЈВуО под командом генерала Михаиловића и већ 17. септембра исте године, евакуисан у Италију са аеродрома у Прањанима. Провео је у Србији само 9 дана али је тих 9 дана заувек обележило његов живот јер је тада Србе упознао онакве какви заиста и јесмо, брижни, отворени, пријатељски расположени, одани, верни, храбри и гостољубиви. Тих 9 дана проведених у Србији су на њега толико позитивно и снажно утицали да је он пуних 70 година, буквално сваког Божијег дана хвалио и бранио Србе у свакој могућој и немогућој прилици и на свим могућим и немогућим местима. Увек је говорио да су он и његових 26 деце и унучади живи захваљујући Србима. Ја лично у животу никада нисам видео странца који је толико дуго, искрено и јако волео Србију као наредник Дајлс.

О свом спашавању од стране српских војника и сељака је плачним гласом говорио: „Кад се сазнало да смо Американци, од тога тренутка па надаље смо за њих били хероји. Осећам да смо наследили дуг захвалности који никада нећемо моћи у потпуности да вратимо. То су речи које смо те 1944. године могли рећи тим четницима.  Добро ће увек победити зло. По мом мишљењу, Срби су на страни добра и они ће победити једног дана.“

Грумен земље са Равне Горе, са којим је сахрањен Кертис Дајлс
 
Никада није тражио ништа за себе, живео је да би пренео добар глас о Србима и Србији. Много пре његове смрти његова кћерка је говорила да ће њен отац и у смрт отићи бранећи Србе на сав глас. Тако је и било. На дан одласка у болницу, прошлог понедељка, са собом је понео своју „књигу“, регистратор са стотинама фотографија, сопствених записа и чланака о четницима, Србији, његовом спашавању, Михаиловићевом срамотном „суђењу“, продаји Србије комунистима и свим догађајима до данашњих дана. Тих пар дана је у болници је са лекарима и особљем разговарао једино о Србији. Рекао је: „Ево, још неколико Американаца зна истину о Србији!“ Није питао ни за породицу ни за пријатеље, већ само за Србију. Већ следећи дан је почео полако да се гаси али је реаговао само ако му неко помене Србе или Србију, па је његова кћерка на зид његове собе поставила његову слику из ратних дана и натпис „Питајте ме зашто волим Србију“, за случај да лекари желе да провере да ли још увек може да комуницира.

Када је одлазио у болницу, потпуно свестан, рекао је „Tell people to google my name…“ („Реците људима да гуглају моје име“), што му је уједно била и последња жеља. И заиста, ко жели да сазна бар нешто о борби наредника Дајлса за Србе и Србију довољно је да упише његово име у претраживач и прича ће се покренути сама…

Наша држава, оваква каква је, се никада није сетила да нареднику Дајлсу ода било какво признање. Можда нису знали за његову борбу, можда их није интересовало јер од тога нису ништа имали за себе, ко зна. Нисам ни сам хтео да им предлажем да то ураде јер, као заклети монархиста, сматрам да је дегутантно да Република добије било какве „кредите“ за нешто што није урадила и са чим није имала никакве везе. Обратио сам се и Њ.К.В. Престолонаследнику Александру Другом који се заинтересовао за предлог и рекао да ће ме неко с Двора контактирати како бисмо организовали неку акцију у том смислу, али је сада, на жалост, за то касно. Ипак, Њ.К.В. Престолонаследник Александар Други је обећао да ће му се Србија макар постхумно одужити. У међувремену, моја породица, пријатељи и ја смо дошли на идеју да му сами уручимо Орден Карађорђеве звезде са мачевима. Орден смо израдили у сопственој режији и послали му га неколико недеља пре његове смрти. Обзиром да је орден дошао од обичних људи, и да је направљен искрено и од срца, значио му је, према његовим речима, много више него да му га је држава Србија уручила.

Једном приликом, када сам га питао да ли постоји нешто што би желео да му пошаљем из Србије он је одговорио да би му највише значио само грумен српске земље. Без размишљања, сео сам у ауто и одвезао се на Галовића поље код Прањана, где се налазио „аеродром“ са ког је наредник Дајлс евакуисан из Србије, ископао грумен земље и послао му га. Његова срећа, када га је добио, се није могла описати речима.  Његова супруга Инез је изразила жељу да наредника Дајлса сахрани са тим груменом српске земље и тако га заувек веже са земљом за коју је његово срце било толико везано читавих 70 година.

Наредник Дајлс ће бити сахрањен данас, 15. септембра, у кошуљи са натписом „Србија“ и „САД“ (на приложеним сликама) коју је поносно носио при свим светковинама и одласцима у цркву. На сахрани ће се, по његовој жељи, вијорити српска и америчка застава заједно.

Због таквих људи још увек верујем да ће се једном вратити време када ће се српска застава поново вијорити изнад Беле Куће. Све и да се не врати, драго ми је да знам да је бар један Американац читав свој живот посветио том циљу.

Почивај у миру наредниче. Тамо горе више нема лажи.

До поновног сусрета,

Твоји Срби.


Саша Јовановић
Cептембар 2014


http://www.pogledi.rs/kertis-dajls-odlazak-heroja/


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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

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Опет одложена рехабилитација Драгољуба Драже Михаиловића / "Магацин" [Танјуг] September 18, 2014

September 20, 2014, 8:09 am
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Магацин
Танјуг
September 18, 2014

Процес у Вишем суду у Београду поново је одложен због промене у саставу судског већа. Нови председник судског већа судија Александар Трешнејв најавио је да ће следеће рочиште бити заказано у року од два месеца писаним путем.

 
Претходни председник већа Александар Ивановић изабран је за судију вишег суда, па више није у његовој надлежности да води овај поступак. Данашње рочиште свеједно би било одложено због штрајка адвоката, јер је један од пуномоћника предлагача рехабилитације адвокат Зоран Живановић замолио одлагање.

Суд је усвојио ту молбу, иако предлагачи имају још једног пуномоћника професора Правног факултета у Београду и саветника председника Републике Оливера Антића. Данашњем рочишту присуствовао је и заменик вишег јавног тужиоца Зоран Ђошић коме је суд у јуну дозволио да прати ток постука у јавном интересу.

Овај вишегодишњи процес је у завршној фази, па би на наредном рочишту могло да се очекује закључење расправе, а потом и одлука о захтеву за рехабилитацију Михаиловића.

Пуномоћник предлагача рехабилитације Антић најавио је данас да ће његвоа завршна реч трајати минимум два сата. Захтевом за рехабилитацију се тражи од суда да поништи пресуду од 15. јула 1946. године, којом је Михаиловић осуђен на смрт стрељањем, као и враћање грађанских права.

Рехабилитацију је затражио његов унук Војислав Михаиловић, а придружили су му се Српска либерална странка, на челу са Костом Чавошким, Удружење припадника Југословенске војске у отаџбини, Удружење политичких затвореника и жртава комунистичког режима, професор међународног права Смиља Аврамов и други.

Предлагачи захтева тврде да Михаиловићу није било омогућено право на одбрану и да није видео свог адвоката до почетка суђења. Он није имао ни право на непристрасан суд, а оптужница му је уручена седам дана пред суђење.

Након два дана од изрицања спорне пресуде комунистичког режима, стрељан је у Београду. Посебна Комисија утврђује тачну локацију на којој је стрељан, јер се претпоставља да су његови посмртни остаци пребачени на другу локацију.

Михаиловић нема гробно место. У недостатку других доказа о Михаиловићевој смрти, решењем Првог основног суда у Београду прошле године је као датум смрти Михаиловића утврђен је 17. јул 1946. године, пошто је суд утврдио да је тог датума стрељан.

Извор: Танјуг

http://www.magacin.org/2014/09/18/opet-odlozena-rehabilitacija-dragoljuba-draze-mihailovica/

Предлог Магацин-а:

Драгољуб Дража Михаиловић – најодликованији српски официр

http://www.magacin.org/2012/07/17/%D0%BD%D0%B0-%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%88%D1%9A%D0%B8-%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BD-%D1%81%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%99%D0%B0%D0%BD-%D1%98%D0%B5-%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%98%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0/


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Srpski rodoljubi spasli 520 savezničkih pilota / "Novosti" September 22, 2014

September 22, 2014, 7:00 pm
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Novosti
V. Ilić - M. Lopušina
September 22, 2014

Sedamdeset godina od evakuacije američkih vazduhoplovaca sa aerodroma u Pranjanima kraj Čačka. Po kućama u Pranjanima boravilo i do 5-6 avijatičara, koje su sakrivali, čuvali i hranili srpski seljaci podno Suvobora

 
Formacije savezničkih aviona, dejstvujući na objekte neprijateljske teritorije, preleću našu zemlju. Iz oštećenih aviona posada se skakanjem spasava. Preduzmite potrebne mere da ih od neprijatelja sačuvate. Spaseni avijatičari iz svih krajeva biće vama upućeni. Pripremite njihovu zaštitu, snadbevanje i evakuaciju.
 
Ova naredba generala Dragoljuba Draže Mihailovića stigla je u januaru 1944. godine u štab Prvog ravnogorskog korpusa, koji je bio pod komandom poručnika Zvonka Vučkovića. Samo nekoliko dana kasnije spasena je prva grupa od 20 avijatičara koji su iz zapaljenog aviona iskočili na Zlatiboru. Oni su odmah evakuisani na prostor takovskog sreza.

Tada još niko nije slutio da će ova akcija ravnogoraca i meštana sela pod Suvoborom i okolini biti uvod u najveću savezničku akciju spasavanja u Drugom svetskom ratu, jer, zahvaljujući velikodušnoj pomoći lokalnog stanovništva, koji su žrtvovali sopstvene živote kako bi sakrili savezničke avijatičare, tom prilikom spaseno je 520 pilota i članova posade.

- Spaseni avijatičari su smeštani u kuće kod seljaka u Pranjanima u neposrednoj blizini Ravne gore. Na severoistočnoj strani sela nalazila se zaravan Galovića brdo. Na tom mestu, oko 800 metara dužine i 300 metara širine, odlučeno je da se podigne aerodrom. Više stotina ljudi, oko 200 volovskih kola, radili su punih meseca dana na pripremanju terena za aerodrom - ispričao nam je istoričar Istorijskog arhiva u Čačku Goran Davidović. - To nije bio nimalo lak posao, budući da su u blizini od 30 do 40 kilometara bile nemačke vojne posade i postojala je stalna opasnost od njihovog upada. Bio je dovoljan samo jedan špijun pa da se sve otkrije, ali srpski narod je svim srcem bio uz zapadne saveznike. Radovi na aerodromu završeni su krajem aprila.

AMERIKA NIJE ZABORAVILA

PROSTOR na Galovića brdu, koje je poslužilo avijatičarima kao pista, kasnije je nazvan - Aerodrom slobode i ratnog savezništva SAD i trupa generala Draže Mihailovića.

Danas je ovaj aerodrom obična poljana, koja se od drugih jedino razlikuje po tabli koju su ovde pre nekoliko godina u znak zahvalnosti podigli preživeli američki avijatičari. Ipak, Amerikanci nisu zaboravili na velikodušnost Pranjanaca, pa je tako američka ambasada u Beogradu nedavno donirala veliku novčanu pomoć za rekonstrukciju ovdašnje seoske škole.

Tokom 1944. godine u Pranjane su, bežeći od nemačkog okupatora, stizali saveznički avijatičari iz gotovo svih krajeva nekadašnje Jugoslavije, ali i iz Rumunije, Bugarske, Mađarske... Pranjanci su u svojim kućama sakrivali po pet-šest pilota, tu ih hranili, oblačili... Pojedinci su ostali i više od šest meseci u ovom selu podno Suvobora.

- Bukvalno su se srodili sa nama. A onda su Pranjanci na Galovića brdu počeli izgradnju aerodroma. Dovlačili su volovskim kolima kamenje i kaldrmu, kako bi napravili stazu. Trajalo je to dugo, mesecima, od jutra do mraka. Kada je sve bilo spremno došli su avioni. Pamtim da su na rastanku svi plakali - pričao nam je svoja sećanja Velisav Janković, svedok dešavanja iz 1944. godine u Pranjanima.

 
Prva grupa evakuisana je 29. maja, oko 40 američkih i britanskih avijatičara. U naredna dva dana, 30. i 31. maja, evakuisana je celokupna britanska vojna misija koja je bila kod Vrhovne komande JVuO. Broj spasenih američkih avijatičara u julu 1944. godine iznosio je više od 200. Nekoliko dana pre najveće akcije spasavanja (10. i 11. avgust), kada je na Galovića Brdo sleteleo čak 16 transportnih aviona i odvezlo 252 američka avijatičara, general Draža Mihailović se obratio pilotima:

- Veza s vašom komandom u Fođi urodila je plodom, i vi ćete za koji dan biti daleko od nas. Daljina, ipak, neće oslabiti naše simpatije, jer nas za večita vremena vežu teški dani i zajednička stradanja, isti ideali i ista vera u pobedu dobra nad zlom.... Od svih savezničkih vojski u svetu, mi smo jedina koja se bori ne samo na jednom, čak ni na dva, već, nažalost, na tri fronta. Prvi je front protiv okupatora, silnog, svirepog i do zuba naoružanog, koji za svaku svoju glavu traži naših-srpskih-stotinu; drugi je protiv ustaša, koji su po zločinima prešli svoje gospodare, stavljajući pod nož sve što je srpsko: žene, decu, starce, sve bez razlike...; a treći front, najžalosniji i sada već najteži, to je front koji su sluge Crvene internacionale otvorile protiv nacionalne Jugoslavije, slabeći njene snage i pretvarajući nacionalni rat u građanski i istrebljenja. Dok mi podnosimo trostruke udarce, Saveznici nas napuštaju, a poslednjima još i pomažu...

Prilikom spasavanja avijatičara neretko su izbijale i borbe sa Nemcima, što je za ovaj narod bilo veoma rizično budući da je na snazi i dalje bila surova nemačka naredba da će se za jednog ubijenog nemačkog vojnika streljati 100 Srba. Ipak, ravnogorcima su saveznički avijatičari u tom trenutku ipak bili prioritet pa su se upuštali i u borbe sa okupatorima. Jednom prilikom krajem maja 1944. godine, kada je oboren jedan američki avion u Ovčarsko-kablarskoj klisuri, došlo je do borbe ravnogoraca i Nemaca. Tada je poginulo deset ravnogoraca iz Dragačeva.

ODLIKOVANjE ZA DRAŽU

GENERAL Draža Mihailović posmrtno je odlikovan Legijom za zasluge od strane američkog predsednika Trumana, 29. marta 1948. godine. Truman je u obrazloženju za odlikovanje istakao i sledeće:

„Kroz neustrašive napore njegovih trupa, mnogo američkih vazduhoplovaca bilo je spaseno i vraćeno pod savezničku kontrolu. General Mihailović sa njegovim snagama, iako nije imao potrebno snadbevanje, vodio je borbu pod ekstremnim teškoćama i doprineo materijalno savezničkoj stvari i konačnoj savezničkoj pobedi.“

Orden je uručen Mihailovićevoj ćerki Gordani skoro 60 godina kasnije. Vašington, međutim, nikada nije dao dozvolu da se ovom srpskog generalu podigne spomenik u glavnom gradu SAD.


http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/naslovna/reportaze/aktuelno.293.html:511286-Srpski-rodoljubi-spasli-520-saveznickih-pilota

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Sedam decenija “Halijarda”: Rizikovali živote da spasu američke pilote / "Blic" Sept. 22, 2014

September 23, 2014, 2:56 pm
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Blic Online
V. Nikitović
September 22, 2014
Foto: V. Nikitović

Da nije bilo hrabrih ljudi iz Pranjana i okoline koji su rizikovali živote skrivajući savezničke pilote, mog oca bi ubili Nemci i ja danas ne bih pričala sa vama.

 Bilo je i suza na rastanku s pilotima: Petko Damljanović
 
Ovo su reči Barbare Hetsted, ćerke američkog pilota Čarlsa Dejvisa, koji je avgusta 1944. godine evakuisan u operaciji “Halijard”, najvećoj akciji spasavanja savezničkih vojnika iza neprijateljskih linija u Drugom svetskom ratu.
 
Barbara Hetsted, ćerka američkog pilota Čarlsa Dejvisa
 
Ona je iz SAD stigla u podsuvoborsko selo Pranjane, gde je na nekadašnjem improvizovanom aerodromu Galovića polje obeležena 70. godišnjica misije.


- Iz svake očeve reči o ovom događaju izvirala je ogromna zahvalnost koju je osećao prema narodu ovog dela Srbije, jer su ti ljudi sebe dovodili u ekstremnu opasnost skrivajući i štiteći američke pilote koji su oboreni iznad Jugoslavije. Kod svojih hrabrih domaćina, koji su njega i saborce hranili, pojili i oblačili, boravio je 66 dana. Pričao je da su seljani često gladovali kako bi piloti imali šta da jedu.

 
Do smrti mu je bilo žao što nikada za tu plemenitost i požrtvovanost nije mogao da im se oduži - priča Barbara Hetsted.
 
Operacija “Halijard”, u okviru koje je evakuisano 520 američkih pilota i članova posade, oborenih iznad Jugoslavije tokom bombardovanja nacističkog kompleksa rafinerije nafte u rumunskom gradu Ploeštiju, odvijala se tokom šest prolećnih i letnjih meseci 1944. godine. Prizemljeni piloti dovoženi su u Pranjane i okolna sela i raspoređivani po kućama, gde su seljani brinuli o njima i krili ih od Nemaca.
 
I pored toga što je za davanje bilo kakvih podataka o savezničkim vojnicima bila obećana nagrada, nijedan od avijatičara nije otkriven.
 
- Evakuacija je započela 9. avgusta 1944. godine. Na aerodrom na Galovića polju uz jaku buku sletelo je nekoliko aviona. Na brzinu je izvvršeno ukrcavanje i letelice su krenule put Italije. Bilo je suza na rastanku sa američkim pilotima jer smo se zbližili sa tim ljudima - priseća se Petko Damljanović, koji je kao pripadnik četničkog pokreta obezbeđivao aerodrom.
 
Iako je najveću žrtvu za spasavanje pilota podneo narod podsuvoborskog kraja, specijalni izaslanik predsednika Republike Oliver Antić jubilej je iskoristio za glorifikaciju četničkog komandanta Draže Mihailovića. On je u svom govoru citirao tadašnjeg američkog predsednika Harija Trumana i francuskog generala De Gola, koji su, kako je naveo, Mihailovića nazvali legendarnim komandantom.
 
Antić je rekao i da su seljani Pranjana i pripadnici ravnogorskog pokreta bili “pod neprestanim udarom Nemaca i partizana”.
 
 
http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Srbija/497005/Sedam-decenija-Halijarda-Rizikovali-zivote-da-spasu-americke-pilote
 
 
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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com
 
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Kada su Srbi spasavali američke pilote...[Izložba dokumenata i fotografija povodom sedam decenija od misije "Halijard"] / "B92" [Tanjug] Sept. 23, 2014

September 23, 2014, 11:38 pm
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B92
Tanjug
September 23, 2014

Izložba dokumenata i fotografija povodom sedam decenija od misije "Halijard", tokom koje je u Drugom svetskom ratu u Pranjanima kod Čačka spaseno više od 500 američkih vazduhoplovaca, otvorena je večeras u Beogradu.

Tanjug / Ministarstvo odbrane
 
Izložbi koja je otvorena u Domu garde na Topčideru prisustvovali su predstvanici Ministarstva odbrane i Vojske Srbije, ambasade SAD u Beogradu i Fondacije "Halijard' iz Vašingtona, načelnik Generalštaba Vojske Republike Srbije Ljubiša Diković, princ Aleksandar Karađorđević...
 
Zamenik ambasadora SAD u Beogradu Gordon Dugud je rekao da i ova izložba pokazuje da nisu zaboravljeni svi napori i hrabrost srpskog naroda u spasavanju američkih pilota. On je dodao da je ovo kao i jučerašnje obeležavanje sedam decenija od operacije "Halijard" u Pranjanima, veza koja postoji između dva naroda u situaciji kada smo suočeni sa tiranima.
 
Dugud je još jednom odao počast srpskom narodu za sve što je tada urađeno i u znak sećanja na herojski podvig svoje kraće obraćanje završio rečima: "Hvala, Srbijo".
 
Savetnik predsednika Srbije Oliver Antić je podsetio da su predstavnici Jugoslovenskog pokreta u otadžbini Dragoslava Mihailovića tada spasili više od 500 američkog vazduhoplovnog osoblja, ali i pilote iz drugih zemalja. Antić je dodao da su pri tome mnogi od Srba i stradali ne želeći da odaju gde se piloti kriju i da to pokazuje kako Srbi na savezništvo gledaju, kao na ideju za koju se mora i treba žrtvovati.
 
Predsednik fondacije misije "Halijard" Džon Kapelo je rekao da su dobitnici karte i zahvalnice te fondacije predsednik Srbije Tomislav Nikolić, ministar odbrane Bratislav Gašić, kao i Antić i Diković.
 
Tanjug / Ministarstvo odbrane
 
U ime predsednika Republike člansku kartu i zahvalnicu primio je Antić. U Pranjanima, između Gornjeg Milanovca i Čačka, tokom Drugog svetskog rata organizovana je najveća akcija savezničkih snaga za spasavanje američkih pilota iza neprijateljskih linija, nazvana "Halijard".
 
Operacija "Halijard" iz leta 1944. godine se smatra i za jednu od najuspešnijih spasilačkih misija izvedenih iza neprijateljskih linija u istoriji ratovanja. Tada je oko 1.000 američkih pripadnika vazduhoplovnih snaga oboreno je iznad okupirane Jugoslavije, od kojih je veliki broj završio u Srbiji. Selo Pranjani je mesto gde je počelo spasavanje više od 520 savezničkih pilota u avgustu 1944. tako što je uz pomoć srpskog lokalnog stanovništva napravljena pista na koju su američki avioni mogli da slete i spasu pilote.
 
Pripadnici Vazduhoplovnih snaga SAD, po povratku u otadžbinu, posvedočili su o požrtvovanosti lokalnih srpskih seljana koji su ih hranili i štitili, u nekim slučajevima i do šest meseci. Američki piloti evakuisani su s privremenog aerodroma Galovića livade, pod Ravnom gorom, u više desetina noćnih i dnevnih letova transportnih aviona, koji su ih prebacili do baza u Italiji.
 
Misija "Halijard" ostvarena je u saradnji s pripadnicima Jugoslovenske vojske u otadžbini koji su organizovali prihvat pilota i njihovo skrivanje od Nemaca. Američki zvaničnici su poslednjih godina posećivali Pranjane i izražavali zahvalnost srpskim porodicima koje su spasle stotine američkih pilota, koje su u Drugom svetskom ratu oborile nacističke snage.
 
 
http://www.b92.net/kultura/vesti.php?nav_category=1087&yyyy=2014&mm=09&dd=23&nav_id=903266
 
 
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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com
 
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Belgrade: An exhibition on the rescue of US pilots in Serbia in 1944 - [Halyard] / "Voice of Serbia" September 24, 2014

September 25, 2014, 4:34 pm
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Voice of Serbia
September 24, 2014
MRS


An exhibition of documents and photographs on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Halyard mission, during which more than 500 American airmen were rescued near the town of Čačak in Serbia, in the Second World War, has been opened in the Dom Garde mansion, in Topčider, Belgrade. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Defence Ministry, the Serbian Army, the US Embassy in Belgrade, the Halyard Foundation from Washington, DC, and by Serbian Army Chief of Staff general Ljubiša Diković. US Deputy Ambassador to Serbia Gordon Duguid said that the exhibition showed that the efforts and courage of Serbian people in the process of rescue of the US pilots had not been forgotten. Serbian President Advisor Oliver Antić said that representatives of the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland, led by Dragoljub Draza Mihailovic, had rescued more than 500 American airmen and their colleagues from other countries as well. President of the Halyard Foundation, lieutenant John Cappello, announced that Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić, Defence Minister Bratislav Gašić, Serbian President Advisor Oliver Antić and Serbian Army Chief of Staff general Ljubiša Diković had been awarded Foundation recognitions.


http://voiceofserbia.org/content/belgrade-exhibition-rescue-us-pilots-serbia-1944

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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

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