Page 9 | American Serb History 101 with Baba Mim

WWI, Part 2: American ALLY and Serbian Sacrifice

“Through all the trials of the war the Spirit of Serbia was never defeated. Her gallantry was past praise, and it had placed on her Allies a sacred obligation.”

Lord Robert Cecil

in a speech at a luncheon given to

M. Pashitch, Prime Minister of Serbia, August 8, 1917

“Victory is not won by shining arms, but by brave hearts.” Old Serbian Proverb from book dating in the 1800’s.

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From Steve Kozobarich of Cleveland, this song:

(Click on record to hear this famous WWI song)

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Photo of WWI postcard via John Mrmak

From a Junior and Senior High School Textbook for the Coraopolis School District I bought at a flea market in 1998 called THE SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY: PATRIOTISM THROUGH LITERATURE by Lyman P. Powell, copyright 1918, Rand McNally & Company.

The Frontispiece features a portrait of President Woodrow Willson, with other illustrations of Theodore Roosevelt, King Albert of Belgium, Samuel Gompers and Major St. Clair Stobart, all whose works are “selected for their intellectual comprehensiveness, moral elevation, restrained feeling and rhythmic quality, as in Lincoln’s speeches.” Other authors included in this school edition are Bret Harte and Katherine Lee Bates. There were FOUR selections about Serbia in this book. I will offer just two.

This is TREASURED GOLD proof for our younger generations, as today’s shameful revisionists of history would have our children believe that the Serbs (and not the Germans and Austrians) were the “evil” in WWI because of the death of Archduke Ferdinand. Not so, not so.

“As Serbian politicians looked from the heights of the Serbian mountains upon the glories of their fertile land, a land of corn and bread, a land of wine and vineyards, they must have heard the Tempter’s words, whispering as of old, “All these things will I give you if—-IF—you will fall down and worship militarism and the Central Powers.”

“But with one voice the Serbian people answered, “Get thee behind me, Satan. It is written in our hearts, ‘Thou shalt worship Freedom: her only shalt thou serve.'” *

“Thus Serbia, the latest evoked of the European nations, perceived with an insight at which history will one day marvel, the inner, the true interpretation of the word ‘nation.’ She perceived that the life force of a nation is a spiritual force, and is not dependent on material conditions for existence.

“Serbia had existed during five hundred years of material annihilation under Turkish rule. Through all that wilderness of time, the ideal of Freedom had been her pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night, but a free and united spirit. That is the only definition which allows of the indefinite expansion which will some day include all human kind in one united nation. Serbia is full of faith and hope because she knows that she is not, and never will be, deprived of nationhood. pointing to the Promised Land. Serbia is again in the wilderness, and the same light guides her and cheers her. She is full of courageous faith, because she understands that a nation means, primarily, NOT physical country (mountains, rivers, valleys), NOT State, not Government,

“In some minor ways Serbia may, in her civilization, have been behind other nations in the west of Europe, but she was AHEAD of Western Europe in that one thing which is of REAL importance, that one thing which cannot be copied or learned from other nations, of which is therefore either innate or unachievable: Serbia is ahead of other nations in her power of sacrificing herself for nationhood. All nations are ready to sacrifice life for nationhood. Serbia made first this common sacrifice, but when that did not avail, she voluntarily, for the sake of an abstract and spiritual idea, made the supreme sacrifice, the sacrifice of country, the sacrifice for which other nations make the penultimate sacrifice of life. The Serbian people sacrificed their country rather than bow the knee to militarism and foreign tyranny; they sacrificed their country in Utopian quest for the right, both for themselves and for other Slav brethren, to work out their own salvation in spiritual freedom. A people with such ideas, and with such power of sacrifice, must be worthy of a great future.”

*From The Flaming Sword in Serbia and Elsewhere

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Beloved old King Peter leading the “Albanska Golgotha.” Thousands of civilians and soldiers died along the way, but the remainder “ghosts” were able to recoup on the island of Corfu in Greece, and come back and win the war!

It was at great sacrifice, as the Serbs lost 1/3 of their population, 1/2 of their male population in this horrible war, from which they never recovered.

Click on the record above to hear King Peter I praising his Soldier Heroes! From the collection of Steve Kozobarich, from Cleveland, OH. It’s so great! Worth the wait and introduction!

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This WWI postcard was recently purchased on EBAY.

SERBIA HAS LOST ALL-BUT HONOR & VALOR!

SHE HAS NEVER KNOWN FEAR

(above 2 quotations from N.Y. Serbian Relief Committee of American, 1918)

Today, 2/20/09, I had occasion to get our my old set of NY TIMES Current History of the European War books and read again about the Serbian Mission in America. The article was written by Milivoy S. Stanoyevich and about how the Mission addressed the U.S. Senate after it was introduced by U.S. Vice Pres. Thomas Marshall. The most brilliant thing to remember was the ending….. “Besides arousing America to take an interest in South Slavic political affairs, the Serbian Mission has achieved other valuable results: It has effected a fuller understanding between two nations, geographically far segregated, but spiritually akin in their democratic ideals.”

Dr. Vesnitch of The Serbian Mission in America gave a speech in St. Louis to an assemblage and said, “The Jugoslavs should make no distinction between the U.S. flag and the flag of Serbia, but they should be under one of them….. One of the first causes of this war is found in the fact that the Serbians and the Jugoslavs represent the spirit of America; they oppose German autocracy and tyranny with the spirit of Liberty….. Democracy means that the individuals of nations must live together as equals in every respect; autocracy means that one shall command and all others shall obey. Germany believes that she is destined to command and that the rest of the world must obey. Serbia has opposed and always will oppose this idea.“

When the Serbian Mission in America went to Boston, the Senate and the House of Representatives of Massachusetts and the Governor McCall paid tribute to Serbia for its age-long struggle for freedom, first against the Mohammedans, now against both Mohammedans and Germans, calling upon the U.S. to assist in rebuilding the little nation, which is “Small in stature but mighty in spirit.”

To which Dr. Vesnitch replied of the enemy Teutons, “They have been able to destroy our bodies, but have not been able to reach our hearts and our souls.”

And I’ll end with this one by Dr. Vesnitch—- “Since the first days of our tragedy the Central Powers have attempted to corrupt us by proposing to our Government a separate peace; we have never been able to understand that language, because we have never doubted that their peace would mean slavery to us; we have never been able to understand their insinuations, because our history of fifteen centuries has never know treachery to our friends and allies.” Ziveli!

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Record Album cover from the collection of Steve Kozobarich

Dr. James F. Donnelly & Servia

New York Times, 5/22/1915

Dr. James F. Donnelly was an American Red Cross suregeon who died of typhus in Serbia. The day before he died, Dr. Donnelly asked that if something happened to him, his body be wrapped in the American Flag that was attached to his field hospital, along with the Red Cross flag. Dr. Samuel Hodge attended him through his illness. The person conveying the story was Sir Thomas Lipton who had brought many nurses from England to Servia. When Sir Thomas had bidden the 2 nurses and good doctor farewell in Gevgelija (near the Greek frontier), he never thought when he returned in a few days, he would find Dr. Donnelly dead and both of the nurses sick with typhus! Sir Thomas Lipton said the surgeon’s bravery is not surpassed by the men who stand and die in the trenches.

Dr. Ernest Pendleton Magruder of Washington, DC, died April 9, 1915, in Belgrade, of typhus fever helping the Serbs, the American Red Cross Director of the Hospital Units in Serbia, Dr. Reynold M. Kirby-Smith announced.(NY TIMES April 10, 1915.)

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TYPHUS

http://www.vlib.us/medical/serbia.htm

Dr. James Johnston Abraham, an experience General Surgeon in Dublin and London with the First Red Cross Mission to Servia:

“My own special orderly, Edwardes, whom I particularly liked because he was so kind, so gentle with the patients, so absolutely dependable – Edwardes got it. We isolated him in the gate-house of the nunnery where we were quartered. We put a special orderly on to him. We did everything we could, with our chief physician in charge and Banks in consultation. He lived for seventeen days; he ought to have pulled through but he did not.

“The Serbs gave him a military funeral, complete with band playing the Dead March, and a salvo over the open grave. The Serb Commandant made a funeral oration over him which the Little Red Woman said was beautiful. I wept like a child. He was the first. More followed until out of the original twelve orderlies we were down to eight. The doctors began next. The first was Benbow, one of our physicians. When he became delirious he was full of the most dangerous delusions, hid a Kruger pistol under his pillow and tried to use it. Holmes got it next. This was almost inevitable. He was our chief physician. He too became delirious. He thought his head was coming off, and somehow managed to get a heavy chain and padlock from somewhere, which he hung round his neck to keep it on. We borrowed Sister Fry, a nurse from the Lady Paget Mission. She was an old friend of mine from West London Hospital days, who volunteered to come to us in our extremity. It was a most courageous thing to do, for we wore naturally treated as pariahs. Then the Little Woman got infected and refused blankly to come into our quarters to be nursed. We pointed out to her that our quarters were already infected and carried her in by force. Then she broke down and wept with relief More orderlies got it. We put them in tents in the garden of the nunnery. I think that saved three from death.”

From the collection of Tim & Melanie Tomich Limrick.

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Again, from the treasures of Steve Kozobarich of Cleveland come these wonderful recordings! I’m sorry you can’t hear the music/speeches/poems that amazed me and filled me with pride for being of Serbian heritage! The top one here is a speech given by King Peter I to his troops and speaks about Liberty, Life and Dying……This webpage is about SACRIFICE. Serbia suffered so much during the Balkan Wars, WWI and WWII and then again from 1990-2009. In WWI alone, Serbia lost 55% of her male population fighting for liberty and freedom. Serbs are NOT warring people, but they will defend to the death that what is theirs.

Bottom: Is that an early record about Kosovo and the Serbs? So early? Of course, Kosovo is Serbia! Serbian History revolves around Kosovo. Make sure you know your history or others will steal it away from you!

Songs don’t play anymore. I’m working on problem.

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3/8/09 You can read the whole book below printed by Nisbet & Co. LTD, 22 Berners Street, W. London ON LINE, thanks to the Library of the University of California, Los Angeles at the Newberry Library in Chicago!

From a lecture entitled

THE SPIRIT OF THE SERBS

by R.W. Seton-Watson,

delivered at King’s College, London,

March 10, 1915.

“This magnificent rally of the Serbian arms, which
will unquestionably go down to history as one of the
finest achievements of the great war, was, above all,
due to the timely arrival of those munitions of war
without which no soldier in the world can hope for
victory. But an important contributory cause — of
the kind calculated to influence so impressionable a
race as the Serb — was the gallant behaviour of the
old King, who, though infirm and broken with rheu-
matic gout, hurried to the front at the most critical
moment and gave a stirring address to his troops.
Classical authors were fond of composing elaborate
summaries of what various generals and statesmen
ought to have said, but most probably did not say,
on similar occasions; but in this case I can vouch
for the general sense, though not for the actual words.
” Heroes,” he said (for in the Serbian language the
usual form of address is not ” soldiers,” but ” heroes “
— the fine old medieval “junaci”), “heroes, you
have taken two oaths : one to me, your King, and one to your country. From the first I release you, for the situation is far too grave to justify me, an old man on the edge of the grave, in holding you to it. From the oath to your country no man can release you. But I promise you that if you decide to return to your homes, and if fortune favours our cause, you shall not be made to suffer. But whether you go or stay, I and my sons remain here.” Need-
less to say, the effect of such a speech was electrical,
and not a man left his post.

On the last occasion on which I told this anecdote,
my chairman reminded me of the resemblance to
Henry V’s famous speech before Agincourt ; and it is certain that King Peter, who as a young man
translated Stuart Mill’s essay on Liberty into Serb,
knows his Shakespeare also. But I cannot help wondering whether the splendid response which met his words did not recall to his mind another incident but little known to Western readers — the cry of the Serb nobles to the greatest of the Serbian Tsars, Stephen Dusan: “Wherever thou leadest us, most glorious Tsar, we will follow thee.”

There is the true spirit of the Serb.

In this connexion (connection) I cannot help quoting another thoroughly characteristic incident which also occurred at the same low ebb of Serbia’s fortunes. General Stepa Stepanovic, one of Serbia’s ablest generals, had been made a Voivode, or Marshal, for his services at an
earlier stage of the campaign. When the retreat
became general and spirits fell, he called up one of
his favourite regiments and addressed them as fol-
lows : ” Heroes, it is to your valour and achievements that I owe my appointment as a Voivode. You are no longer worthy of your past, and unless you mend your ways, I shall tear off these epaulettes and fling them at your feet ! “

That, too, is typical of the Serbian spirit.

What, then, does Serbia’s achievement mean to the common cause ? To begin with, the Serbs were the first to deal a blow at the prestige of Austria-Hungary, and, conjointly with Belgium at the other end of Europe, they supplied eloquent proof of what national feeling can do against heavy odds. Secondly, they kept fully occupied large military forces which might otherwise have been diverted to the Western or to the Galician fronts. According to a Hungarian official
estimate — an estimate which, coming from the enemy, is hardly likely to err on the side of over-statement — the losses incurred by Austria-Hungary against Serbia alone up to November 1 were no fewer than
148,000 (38,438 killed, 92,955 wounded, and 17,208 prisoners). During the fighting last November and
December, at least 100,000 more must have been
(Morning Post, November 18, 1914) and it is a notorious fact that the beaten Austrian army was so completely demoralized as to be useless for any further offensive movement. Thus we shall not be guilty of exaggeration if we assume that Serbia has from first to last accounted for half a million of the enemy, including those killed, wounded, captured, and broken in moral.

Above all, Serbia has formed a rampart between the Central Powers and Turkey, a fatal flaw in the design which extended from Berlin to Bagdad, from Vienna and Budapest to Salonica. (Does this sound familiar to you? Germany’s desire of a route from Berlin to Bagdad??? The above was written in 1915 and sounds so 1990-ish.)

The operations at the Dardanelles are revealing to the man in the street what ought even before to have been fairly obvious — the true value and significance of Serbia to the allied cause. Her destruction would enable the Germans to relieve the beleaguered Turks, to replenish their dwindling stores of ammunition, and even to stiffen their army with fresh troops ; it would
drive Bulgaria willy-nilly into the arms of the Dual Alliance; it would finally isolate Russia and
Roumania from Western Europe, and, by cutting off the latter’s war supplies, would virtually force her to abandon her dreams of conquest ; and incidentally it would place the Central Powers in possession of one of the most valuable copper mines in Europe.

Thus our own vital interests are clearly involved.

In the final rout of the Austrians the Serbs took 37,000 prisoners, exclusive of several thousand wounded soldiers whom the enemy had to abandon in their haste. There were already 17,000 prisoners. This gives a total of 54,000 unwounded prisoners, or close on 60,000 all told.

Serbia has borne the burden and heat of the day, she has rendered signal services to the allied cause, and her valour has finally dispersed the calumnies with which her enemies so long assailed her reputation.

At this stage I cannot do better than say some-
thing of the Serbian army. It does not merely
typify, it is identical with, the Serbian nation; for
nation and army are one in a sense which we in our island fastness still only dimly comprehend.

To a Scotsman there comes a natural temptation to recognize among the modern Serbs some of those rugged fighting qualities which his ancestors developed under the inspiring leadership of Wallace and of Bruce. Two years ago I had an opportunity of observing the Serbian army at close quarters ; for I spent five weeks travelling in Serbian Macedonia on the eve of the second Balkan War, made the acquaintance of a great many officers of all ranks, was repeatedly
entertained at mess, and visited many of their camps and garrison towns. No one who has had such an experience can fail to be struck by the almost ideal relations which exist between officers and men, the charming blend of discipline and comradeship. Some people may think this natural enough in an army where a captain may often have his brothers and cousins in his own company; but there are other peasant armies where it is not to be found.
But certainly the Serbian army is permeated with the democratic spirit in the best sense of the word.
Just as it is customary to address the troops as a
whole as ” heroes,” so the officers summon their
men to the fight, not as ” men,” but as ” brothers.”
After the day’s work was over, it was pleasant to
see officers and men together dancing the Kolo, the famous national dance of the Serb, and yet to realize that this — according to Prussian standards — monstrous familiarity did not for a moment impair the strict discipline which is indispensable to every army.
Those who judge armies by the goose-step or by
parade uniforms will not have much praise for the
Serbian army (though even here it is worth pointing out that its field-kit is one of the smartest in Europe) ; but as a fighting machine, seasoned by the rough- and-tumble experiences of two recent campaigns, it cannot be valued too highly within the limits prescribed by a country of four million inhabitants.

Here are a few anecdotes to illustrate these
democratic relations and the primitive outlook
which underlies them.

In the first Balkan War a Serbian regiment found
itself threatened by superior forces of the enemy
and was forced to retire. Of the men serving the
machine-guns, all but one were killed or wounded ;
but this man, instead of withdrawing with his com-
rades, continued to work his gun with fiendish energy
and did great execution among the advancing Turks.
At last the latter, not realizing that he stood alone
and fearing a trap, retired in their turn, and thus
on that section of the front the situation had been
saved by the courage of a single man. His exploit
was duly reported to the general, who sent for him
next day. The gunner came, saluted, and stood
before him. The general greeted him with a fero-
cious scowl, and said, ” You’re a terrible fellow.
What’s this I hear of you? They tell me it was a
regular massacre. How many men did you kill ? “
The gunner, much perturbed at such a reception,
stammered out his belief that certainly well over a
hundred men must have fallen victims to his machine-
gun. “Well,” said the general, still frowning,
“there’s nothing for it but to make you a corporal.”
” Oh, general,” exclaimed the man, who had expected
some kind of punishment. ” And now. Corporal, I make you a sergeant.” ” Oh, general,”

gasped the man, speechless with astonishment.

” And now, Sergeant ,” the general went on,

” I make you a lieutenant.” The new officer burst
out crying. ” And now,” cried the general, ” now
embrace me I “

Surely there is something Napoleonic about such
a tale as this. It is redolent of the days of Ney and
Murat and Bernadotte. But my other anecdotes take
us many centuries further back. I remember being
told by a charming Serbian major what difficulties he
had experienced during the Balkan War in holding
his men back under artillery fire. They were always
for rushing on at any risk. Once, when he remon-
strated seriously with them for their folly, some of
them explained that they did not mean to disobey
orders, they merely wanted to “get inside the curve “
(of the shells!).

One of the chief concerns of the Serbian soldiers
is to avoid being wounded in the head; and
some of them, in the early days of that war, find-
ing from practical experience that the effect of
shrapnel fire was very greatly reduced by earth-
works, tried to apply the same principle to them-
selves, by plastering their caps with a good layer of
mud!

At the battle of Bakurna Gumna the Serbian
infantry had to advance across an open plain, with-
out a particle of cover, against entrenched Turkish
positions. On one of the hills above the battlefield
is perched the ruined castle of Marko Kraljevic,
Mark the King’s son, the most famous hero of
Serbian legend, whose name still lives in the popular
poetry of the race. The Turkish positions were
stormed, and next day some officers visited their
wounded men in the field hospitals and praised them
for their gallantry. The answer came : ” With
Marko Kraljevic to help us, it was easy enough”;
and it transpired that more than one soldier had
seen Marko on his famous grey charger, Sarac,
splashing through the mud before them and waving
them on to victory. No argument could shake their belief.

(There is a famous poster I have somewhere of this exact WWI scene, of the soldiers laying wounded and dying, but upon seeing Marko Krajlovich on his horse, they were imbued once again with their heroic hearts and won the day!

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(French Postcard WWI-Serbie)

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Crawford Price

“Serbia’s Part in the War” Vol. 1, Published 1918 in London:

“The Austro-Hungarian ultimatum of July 23rd, 1914, was the last challenge to Serbia to choose between vassalage and annihilation; it was the culmination of a determination, by fair means or foul, to break the national spirit of the Serbs or trample them out of existence as an independent people; it was a final effort to destroy the rampart which the Serbian renascence had built up between Berlin and Baghdad and between Vienna and Salonika.”

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From the textbook called SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY:

Here’s poem simply called SERBIA by Amelia Josephine Burr, taken from The Poetry Review in EVERYBODY’S MAGAZINE.

Hark, from the East a keen and bitter cry—

New tears are flowing in the furrows of old sorrow.

On your wasted fields your dead drift like fallen leaves;

Only the Pale Havester garners heavy sheaves.

How have you the courage to struggle toward tomorrow, Serbia, Serbia, land that will not die?

(and Serbia answers…)

I have stood for freedom—freedom can not perish.

I have stood for honor—honor must endure.

But my children starve, the children who should cherish

For the world’s to-morrow, my spirit flaming-pure.

You who sit in safety, you whose babes are fed.

You who by the perils of other men are free,

Listen to my living, ere the hour be sped,

Lest you hear forever the silence of the dead.

Serbia, Serbia! God hears. Do we?

The Queen heard! Her Majesty, Queen Mary and King George were very patriotic in their duties during WWI, not only to England, but to Serbia as well. The Serbian Relief Fund’s first Patroness, was HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN, followed by the President of the Serbian Relief Fund-The Lord Bishop of London. Chairman was The Lord Henry Cavendish Bentinck, M.P.

Vice Chairman was Mr. Glynne Williams, the Hon. Treasurer was The Right Hon. The Earl of Plymouth, C.B.; the Hon Secretary was Mr. R. W. Seton-Watson, D. Litt; the Hon. Financial Secreaty was Mr. Francis A. Cooper, C.M.G. and the General Secretary was Mr. F.M. Scott. The Headquarters for the Serbian Relief Fun was 5 Cromwell Road, London, S.W. 7.

“There is a moral obligation to Serbia that every Briton should do something to fulfil. Now when Serbia needs our aid, it is little to ask that we should give it generously and freely. The SERBIAN RELIEF FUND-the organization that is helping to wipe off our debt to Serbia, needs aid in cash or in kind. The great work cannot go on without money. The Serbians gave life itself to help the Allies. Will you give your moey to help Serbian and thus keep Britain’s honour bright?”

(Serbia’s Cup of Sorrow)

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Serbia, Serbia! God hears, do we?

President Woodrow Wilson heard!

President Woodrow Wilson (from Wikipedia)

“The war not not yet ended when President Woodrow Wilson made an unprecedented gesture in recognition of the sacrifices of the Serbian nation towards the common war effort. His unique eulogy to he Serbs was expressed in the invitation to Americans of all faiths and creeds to pray for the Serbs, whose lands had been devastated and their homes despoiled, but whose spirit has remained unbroken.

‘Here is an account given by Frank Columbus in his article “SERBIAN AMERICANS.”

“Sunday, July 28, 1918 was a hot muggy day in Washington DC like most others. But not quite! Above the White House and ALL public buildings in Washington, DC the Serbian flag proudly flew unfurled. President Woodrow Wilson sent the following message to the American people which was read aloud in the churches throughout America and published in almost all major newspapers:

“To the People of the United States on Sunday, 28th of this present month, will occur the fourth anniversary of the day when the gallant people of Serbia, rather than submit to the studied and ignoble exactions of a prearranged foe were called upon by the war declaration of Austrai-Hungary to defend their territory and their homes against an enemy bent on their destruction. Nobly did they respond.

“So valiantly and courageously did they oppose the forces of a country ten times greater in population and resources that it was only after they had thrice drived the Austrians back and Germany and Bulgaria had come to the aid of Austrai that they were compelled to retreat into Albania. While their territory has been devastated and their homes despoiled, the spirit of the Serbian people has not been broken. Though overwhelmed by superior forces, their love of freedom remains unabated. Brutal force has left unaffected their firm determination to sacrifice everything for liberty and independence.

“It is fitting that the people of the United States, dedicated to the self-evident truth that is the right of the people of all nations, small as well as great, to live their own lives and choose their own Government and remembering the principles for which Serbia has so nobly fought and suffered are those for which the United States is fighting, should on the occasion of this anniversary manifest in an appropriate manner their war sympathy with the oppressed people who have so heroically resisted the aims of the Germanic nations to master the world. At the same time, we should not forget the kindred people of the Great Slavic race—the Poles, the Czechs and Yugo-Slavs, who, now dominated and oppressed by alien forces yearn for independence and national unity.

“This can be done in a manner no more appropriate than in our churches. I, therefore, appeal to the people of the United States of all faiths and creeds to assemble in their several places of worship on Sunday, July 28, for purpose of giving expression to their sympathy with this subjugated people and their oppressed and dominated kindred in other lands, and to invoke the blessings of Almighty God upon them and upon the cause to which they are pledged.”

Woodrow Wilson, President, The White House, July, 1918. [Columbus: 145-146] Petrov, Dr. Krinka Vidakovich. “The Serb National Federation the Champion of Serbdom in America,” SERB NATIONAL FEDERATION, FIRST 100 YEARS, Serb National Federation, July 2001, pp. 50, 51.

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to read about Emily Louise Simmons 1888-1966, an unsung Heroine in the Great War. “Served as a nurse and relief worker in Serbian and the Balkans under the Serbian and American Red Cross. Her remains lie near this location in an unmarked grave. Bravery Beyond Compare.” (Oct. 6, 2006)

Ms. Simmonds was a BRITISHER, but graduated as a nurse from Roosevelt who held the rank of Lieutenant in the Servian army.

“Being a Britisher, I could not belong to the American Red Cross, and being an American trained nurse, I could not belong to the British Red CRoss. When I was in London and an appeal was made, I said I wanted to go, but I was unable to pay my expenses. Mrs. Helen Hartley Jenkins financed my trip. I was one of eight who started from England what is called THE FIRST ENGLISH MISSION. It took us 18 days to reach Servia and stopped at Kragujevatz, a day and a half’s journey from Belgrade where the wounded were being brought in day and night. There was no hospital in the place. In two old buildings that had been used as barrackswe put 1,800 wounded. There were only two Servian doctors, but they were very efficient surgeons, one trained in France and the other in Germany.”

To read the rest of the story, read the NY TIMES Jan.15, 1915 <———

“Nurse in Belgrade When Shells Fell: Miss Emily Simmonds Tells of Servian Hospitals Without Equipment. No Dressings for Wounds.”

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Mme. Grouitch Gives American Red Cross Credit for Relieving Distress:

Dr. Ryan HERO OF BELGRADE

Crown Prince Voices Nation’s Gratitude

NY TIMES, Jan. 30, 1915 (<—–click here)

“When Servia was first invaded by the Austrians at the beginning of the war the country was practically out of anestetics, and bandages were so few that woulds could be dressed on an average only once a week. So depleted was the stock of anesthetics that many major operations were performed with the subjects in full consciousness.”

“These statements were made by Mme. Slavko Grouitch, wife of the Servian Under Secretary of Foreign Affairs at a meeting in the Red Cross offices, 661 Fifth Avenue, yesterday afternoon. Mme Grouich is here as the official representative of the Servia Red Cross and in a semi-official capacity represents the Servian Government.

“In the early days of the war more than 50,000 Servians were wounded in battle, and their sufferings, Mme. Grouitch said, were beyond description. In some hospitals there were three patients to one blanket, and such delicacies as are needed so much in the sickrooms were almost wholly lacking, so suddenly was Austria’s attack made. To the American Red Cross more than any other agency was the improvement of conditions in Servia due, said Mme. Grouitch.

A SERVIAN’S GRATITUDE

“As an instance of Servian gratitude Mme Grouitch cited the words ofa wounded Servian soldier to his American nurse:

“You are a better friend than even my father and my mother. It was their duty to care for heir son, but you had no such obligation. Instead you crossed the seas to help me, and I know that God and you are my best friends.”

“Mme. Grouitch also praised the British and Russians for sending doctors, nurses and supplies to Servia. Russia was in straits for medical supplies, she said, but when Servia sppealed to Petrograd, the authorities drew generously on their limited store and sent a large consignment to Servia.

“Of Dr. Edward Ryan, head of the American Red Cross in Belgrade, Mme Grouitch spoke in the highest terms. The Crown Prince has publicly acknowledge the debt Servia owes to Dr. Ryan and his American nurses and physicians.

“The hospital at Belgrade is one of Servia’s great national institutions and it was to take charge of it in a city that was and still is, she said, under constant bombardment, that Dr. Ryan was assigned. She said the Servians looked upon Dr. Ryan as largely instrumental in saving Belgrade from complete destruction when it fell into the hands of the Austrian invaders. In the period between the arrival and departure of the invaders, Dr. Ryan cared for more than 15,000 desitute non-combatants unable to get away.

DR. RYAN BELGRADE’S HERO

“Dr. Ryan was without question in sole authority in Belgrade during that terrible period. He commandeered all the food in the city and threw open the gates of the hospital reservation to all the people. I assure you that Servia with never forget the American physician, Dr. Edward Ryan.

“The suffering in Servia, Mme. Grouitch said, was more severe than at any time in Belgium. She referred to the isolation of the country and added that if there is another Austrian invasion, which is now threatened, it will call to the battle line every man who can stand on his feet, as well as thousands of women. She also spoke of the grave danger of fever, smallpox, and other diseases when warm weather comes.

“Mme. Grouitch, before her marriage, was Miss Mabel Dunlop of West Virginia. She has not come to this country to beg money, but to get wheat, corn, oats, barley, vegetable and other seeds in the effort to raise another crop from the war-devastated fields of Servia.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

TYPHUS

http://www.vlib.us/medical/serbia.htm

Dr. James Johnston Abraham, an experience General Surgeon in Dublin and London with the First Red Cross Mission to Servia:

+++++++++++++++++++

From the Library of Congress photo files, Serbian (Servian) officer refugees during WWI.

God bless and keep their heroic acts forever to the fore!

++++++++++++++++++

Many, many years ago, I purchased the Report Book of Dr. R. Archibald Reiss, published in 1916, of the atrocities commited by the Austro-Hungarian army during the first invasion of Serbia. It cost $130.00 then as it was such a rare book.

How surprised and satisfied I was to see that segments of this book was recently put on the Internet by Srpska Mreza, including this photo of Serbian villagers hanged by the Austrians.

These were innocent women pulled from their homes. There are MANY of these kinds of photos found throughout the book I have. This was done in village after village to scare the others into submission.

WWI-Allies Postcards- Serbia Included!

Serbian flag, second from the left of Freedom flags.

Some of the newest literature on certain websites seem to want to ignore the fact that Serbia was with the Allies in both WWI and WWII.

I found one postcard site from a well-known University that named every other nation’s flag on the postcard, but when it came to Serbia, the description was “Eastern European.” The administrator apologized to me when I pointed out the error. He blamed the oversight on an intern’s work, and promised to rectify the situation. I am very grateful to him and look forward to his follow through.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Lucky, Lucky Mim! (see below!)

Luckily for me, I was able to add my own collection of ALLIED WWI postcards Thursday, September 24, 2009 at the Renninger Flea Market near Kutztown, PA. I purchased ten additional WWI beautiful “Silks” (embroidered postcards) from Dr. Victor J.W. Christie, Appraiser and Author, and owner of THE CHESHIRE CAT, LTD. The kind and knowledgeable Dr. Christie was a teacher, Superintendent of Schools, and a recognized authority on the works of Bessie Pease Gutmann. Each one of the cards I purchased from him showed the flag of Serbia (Servia), the red/blue/white banner so familiar to all of us.

(Click the bottom right hand corner to enlarge the image.)

The Serbian flag is 3rd from the left on the card above.

This postcard, called LA SERBIE is from a WWI Series called PANTHEON DE LA GUERRE by

A.F. Gorguet, from 1918.

I purchased all the Pantheon ones featuring the Serbs decades ago. If memory serves me correctly, I think the Serbs were selected to be the FIRST of all nations to go through the Arc de Triumphe for all they suffered, losing half of their male population and a third of the female population that had to retreat to the isle of Corfu. After resting and thanking the Greeks, the Serbs came roaring back to help win the war.

In the postcard above, the Ally Serbs were led by King Peter (seated in the middle here) and Prince Aleksandar (shown on dark horse to the left). Nikola Pasich prominently stands to the right, with all the Serbian banners of the Serbian Divisions in the background. Serbian peasants on the left join the soldiers on the right hand side in Victory.

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I’ll end with this lovely note found inside one of the postcards that opened…..

“Wishes are nothing; ’tis the heart

That in the few lines dwells

And says to those from us apart

More than the greeting tells!”

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Serbian flag, far right…..

Bill was in the 5th Royal Fusiliers stationed from Dover!

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There’s a beautiful web site about some Englishmen who belonged to the Worcestershire Regiment (29th/36 of Foot) who won various high awards from the grateful Serbs for gallantry or meritorious service during WWI. The awards were recorded in the London Gazette

Click here to learn more about the medals and the great men who earned them:

http://www.worcestershireregiment.com/wr.php?main=inc/a_foreign_serbian

Lt.-Col (T/Brig-Gen) Douglas Edward Cayley, C.M.G

Capt. (T/Lt. Col. William Frederick Oliver Faviell

Sgt. William Joseph Blood

Pte. William Smith

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From good friend, Aleksandra Rebic of Illinois:

Sent: Monday, August 2, 2010 4:41:49 PM
Subject: War with the Serbians is never a good idea.

Now on www.heroesofserbia.com

at:

http://www.heroesofserbia.com/2010/07/at-1110.html

War with the Serbians is never a good idea.

Draft of the Austrian declaration

of war against Serbia July 1914

A young Adolf Hitler attends a rally in

Munich Odeonsplatz celebrating

Austria’s declaration of war against Serbia July 1914

Aleksandra’s Note: It was in these days of summer 96 years ago, in the lovely, peaceful summer of 1914, that things just got really out of hand. The more one learns of how the first World War in history, that war that was to “end all wars”, really began, the more amazed and horrified one becomes at how an ostensibly “local” conflict, that was to take no more than a few months to resolve and finish, could manifest into an international monster that quite literally changed the world in four short years.

That is precisely why everyone needs to pay attention to, and be concerned about, those “local” matters, “way over there”.

Just in considering the few bits of information here, one can confidently draw a few conclusions in hindsight:

1. Never underestimate how big something can become.

2. Never become overconfident, even if you are an Empire, because those “little peoples in their little states” could end up beating you and your Empire, and your Empire could become “no more”.

3. There is no way that one can justifiably blame “Greater Serbian Nationalism” as being the true cause of World War I.

Even after all these years, almost a century later, there are STILL people who believe that World War I was caused by an 18 year old Bosnian Serb “nationalist” named Gavrilo Princip. That’s perhaps the most amazing thing of it all.

It might behoove the great powers of today, in the 21st century, that it’s not necessarily wise to mess with Serbia and the Serbians.

Sincerely,

Aleksandra Rebic

*****

“At 11:10 A.M. on July 28, 1914, Count Leopold von Berchtold, the Austro-Hungarian Minister for Foreign Affairs, sent the following telegram from Vienna to M. N. Pashitch, Serbian Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs. This declaration of war was received at Nish at 12:30 P.M.”

[Telegraphic]

Vienna, July 28, 1914

The Royal Serbian Government not having answered in a satisfactory manner the note of July 23, 1914, presented by the Austro-Hungarian Minister at Belgrade, the Imperial and Royal Government are themselves compelled to see to the safeguarding of their rights and interests, and, with this object, to have recourse to force of arms. Austria-Hungary consequently considers herself henceforward in a state of war with Serbia.

COUNT BERCHTOLD

Austr0-Hungarian Minister for Foreign Affairs

From: Collected Documents Relating to the Outbreak of the European War (London, 1915), p. 392. This is Document No. 45 quoted from the Serbian Blue Book.

*****

According to historian John Clinton Adams:

“The telegram came indirectly. It went from Vienna to Bucharest and from there down to Nish, which in the last three days had become the new capital of Serbia. Copied in pencil, the impersonal French words looked unimpressive…”

__________________________________

From the Manchester Guardian July 29, 1914

“Austria has declared war upon Serbia. An unconfirmed report says Austro-Hungarian troops have invaded Serbia by crossing the River Save at Mitrovitz. Two Serbian steamers have been seized on the Danube.

“In Vienna it is believed that Montenegro, which stands with her Serb sister state, is mobilising, and that a joint force is gathering near the Bosnian frontier in readiness to deliver a counter-stroke towards Sarajevo.

“Our St. Petersburg correspondent, telegraphing last night, says if Austria occupies Belgrade, Russia will reply at once by mobilising all her army. Her partial mobilisation is in full swing.

“In Berlin, it is believed that if Russia calls her troops to the colours, Germany will at once follow her example. The fleet has returned to home waters.”

*****

THE FOLLOWING IS FROM WWW.FIRSTWORLDWAR.COM

“The ‘Great War’, which began on 28 July 1914 with Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war with Serbia, was the first truly global war. It began in Europe but quickly spread throughout the world. Many countries became embroiled within the war’s first month; others joined in the ensuing four years, with Honduras announcing hostilities with Germany as late as 19 July 1918 (with the record going to Romania, who entered the war – albeit for the second time – one day before it finished, on 10 November 1918).

“Detailed below is a list of the nations [in alphabetical order] who formally declared hostilities during World War One, along with their date of entrance. Nations of the British Empire, e.g. Australia, Canada and New Zealand, automatically entered the war with Britain’s decision to enter the fray on 4 August 1914.

“Note that on numerous occasions hostilities were assumed without a formal declaration, e.g. Russia with Germany and Austria-Hungary in August 1914.”

Australia

Entered war together with Britain on 4 August 1914

Austria-Hungary

Declared war with Serbia on 28 July 1914

Declared war with Russia on 6 August 1914

Declared war with Belgium on 28 August 1914

Declared war with Portugal on 15 March 1916

Belgium

Invaded by Germany on 3 August 1914

Bolivia

Severed relations with Germany on 13 April 1917

Brazil

Severed relations with Germany on 11 April 1917

Declared war with Germany on 26 October 1917

Bulgaria

Declared war with Serbia on 14 October 1915

Declared war with Romania on 1 September 1916

Canada

Entered war together with Britain on 4 August 1914

China

Severed relations with Germany on 14 March 1917

Declared war with Germany on 14 August 1917

Declared war with Austria-Hungary on 14 August 1917

Costa Rica

Severed relations with Germany on 21 September 1917

Declared war with Germany on 23 May 1918

Cuba

Declared war with Germany on 7 April 1917

Ecuador

Severed relations with Germany on 8 December 1917

France

Invaded by Germany on 2 August 1914

Declared war with Austria-Hungary on 12 August 1914

Declared war with Turkey on 5 November 1914

Declared war with Bulgaria on 16 October 1915

Germany

Declared war with Russia on 1 August 1914

Declared war with France on 3 August 1914

Declared war with Belgium on 4 August 1914

Declared war with Portugal on 9 March 1916

Greece

Declared war with Austria-Hungary on 27 June 1917

Declared war with Bulgaria on 27 June 1917

Declared war with Germany on 27 June 1917

Declared war with Turkey on 27 June 1917

Guatemala

Declared war with Germany on 23 April 1918

Haiti

Declared war with Germany on 12 July 1918

Honduras

Declared war with Germany on 19 July 1918

Italy

Declared war with Austria-Hungary on 23 May 1915

Declared war with Turkey on 21 August 1915

Declared war with Germany on 28 August 1915

Declared war with Bulgaria on 19 October 1915

Japan

Declared war with Germany on 23 August 1914

Declared war with Austria-Hungary on 25 August 1914

Liberia

Declared war with Germany on 4 August 1914

Montenegro

Declared war with Austria-Hungary on 5 August 1914

Declared war with Germany on 8 August 1914

Declared war with Bulgaria on 15 October 1915

New Zealand

Entered war together with Britain on 4 August 1914

Nicaragua

Declared war with Austria-Hungary on 8 May 1918

Declared war with Germany on 8 May 1918

Panama

Declared war with Germany on 7 April 1917

Declared war with Austria-Hungary on 10 December 1917

Peru

Severed relations with Germany on 6 October 1917

Portugal

Entered war against Germany on 9 March 1916

Entered war against Austria-Hungary on 15 March 1916

Romania

Declared war with Austria-Hungary on 27 August 1916

Exited war with Treaty of Bucharest on 7 May 1918

Re-entered the war on 10 November 1918

Russia

Declared war with Turkey on 2 November 1914

Declared war with Bulgaria on 19 October 1915

San Marino

Declared war with Austria-Hungary on 3 June 1915

Serbia

Declared war with Germany on 6 August 1914

Declared war with Turkey on 2 November 1914

Siam

Declared war with Austria-Hungary on 22 July 1917

Declared war with Germany on 22 July 1917

Turkey

Declared war with Romania on 30 August 1916

Severed relations with United States on 23 April 1917

United Kingdom

Declared war with Germany on 4 August 1914

Declared war with Austria-Hungary on 12 August 1914

Declared war with Turkey on 5 November 1914

Declared war with Bulgaria on 15 October 1915

United States of America

Declared war with Germany on 6 April 1917

Declared war with Austria-Hungary on 7 December 1917

Uruguay

Severed relations with Germany on 7 October 1917

Reference:

Funk and Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, Volume 27, Funk and Wagnall, 1983

http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/declarationsofwar.htm

*****

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

*****

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The poster above of Heroic Serbia fighting off her enemies from all sides was created by the very famous poster maker, Bernard Partridge. This first appeared in PUNCH, or the London Charivari, Oct. 27, 1915.

Serbie-“Vive la Liberte”

Serbia-Freedom For Ever!

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Beautiful Flower Postcard

Serbia and Belgium flags

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This says it all! Good Luck!

Dr. Christie said that the embroidered “silks” were first produced in 1914 through 1918 and declined greatly from 1919 onwards. The cards were hand embroidered on strips of silk mesh with as many as 25 on a strip. Mostly they were produced by French and Belgian women refugees who worked in their homes and refugee camps, and the sent the finished strips to factories for cutting and mounting on postcards.

The Serbian flag is again the first one to the far right on top of the cannon here.

Because of their beauty and uniqueness, Dr. Christie said, the WWI Silks became wildly popular with British and American servicemen on duty in France. This is why the themes for most of the silks produced are patriotic and feature the British, French and American flags, symbols and greetings.

Some of the cards purchased had the central portion cut as a flap so that a tiny printed greeting card could be inserted in a pocket behind the silk front and the stiff back. One of these said, “To my Sweetheart” and definitely showed the Serbian flag as you can see here below. The cards became treasured momentos from “the boys over there” and are excellent examples of front-line patriotic art quite unique to this specific period in history. Dr. Christie estimates that as many as 10 million handmade cards were produced during this WWI period. In 1930 through 1945 a machine made card was produced which was simpler and plainer with less variations. These Silks, he said, never regained the popularity of their WWI predecessors.

1915 Allies (Serb=far right)

This “Forget-Me-Not” card found inside featured the Serbian flag far right, the first one, a Souvenir of the Great War.

This 1918 “Silk” featured the Serbian banner on the bottom half of the number 8 above.

A Souvenir of France from 1919, and the Serbian flag is featured far right. First.

This time the Serbian flag is far left, the first guarded by the encompassing American flags.

This is the outside of the silk postcard with the “Forget-Me-Not” note inside with the Serbian flag. On the outside, embroidered here, the Serbian flag is right in the middle!

75th Anniversary of Operation Halyard, the Rescue of 500+ Airmen: Sept. 15, 2019 in Pranjani, Serbia

Thousands of Serbs attended the 75th anniversary celebration in Pranjani, Serbia, to honor General Draza Mihailovich and his Army of the Homeland Chetniks and Rescued Airmen

I do not know who authored this magnificent painting of General Draza Miahilaovich.

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The Greatest Rescue

You Never Heard Of

by Milana Bizic, Nov. 24, 2019.

Though scarcely noted in the United States, Sept. 15 marked the 75th anniversary of the rescue of more than 500 U.S. and Allied airmen from behind German-occupied lines in Pranjani, Serbia, orchestrated by Yugoslav Army Gen. Draza Mihailovich and his Serbian Chetniks, as well as loyal villagers.

But the heroic event, known as Operation Halyard, was, for geopolitical reasons, covered up for many years. One of the greatest rescues in our history was hidden and forgotten.

The Serbs, however, loyal to America in both World War I and World War II, found the downed airmen and worked to hide them for months, offering them beds and food when such commodities were in short supply. During that time, Milhailovich collaborated with American forces, including the Office of Strategic Services, the U.S. 15th Air Force and even the famed Tuskegee Airmen, to concoct the daring airlift, allowing the saved airmen to return home to loved ones and raise families.

The airlift operation, the largest such rescue in American history at the time, was conceived in response to the failures of Operation Tidal Wave, a 1943 air attack on the Ploesti oilfields in Romania. The refineries there were critical to the German war machine. But the raid was costly for U.S. forces, as 53 planes and 660 airmen were lost. Others, with limping airplanes, tried to make it back to an Allied base in Italy. Many of these weakened planes were subsequently shot down over Nazi-occupied Serbia.

4 Days, 3 Nights in Serbia for the75th Anniversary of the Halyard Missionin Pranjani: 9/13-15/2019

By Milana (Mim) Karlo Bizic

Mim meeting with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic. In the middle is Pranjani resident Miodrag Nikitovich. Behind are all representatives of Mission Halyard, I’m sure it was they that made this meeting possibe!

I was there. I made it! For at least the last five years, I have tried to go to Pranjani, Serbia for the 70th-74th anniversary of the Halyard Mission, celebrating the incredible rescue of over 500+ Airmen, 432 of them American and 80 Allied airmen.

It was a story I knew so well from the time I was seven years old, as my father, Milan Karlo, had published the day by day diary of Captain Nick Lalich, of the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) and forerunner of today’s CIA, along with pages of photos by J.B. Allin, documenting the mission in his American SERB LIFE magazine. The main hero in the book THE FORGOTTEN 500 was George Vujnovic, who grew up right across the street from my father on 25th and Larkins Way on Pittsburgh’s South Side, where the American Serbian Club parking lot is today.

Major George Musulin, who once played for Pitt and also the Pittsburgh Steelers (then called the Pittsburgh Pirates) was another close associate. Initially chosen to lead the rescue, he was relieved of his duties due to Churchill’s insistence, since Musulin rightly doubted England’s 100% sincerity of the rescue operations that would be done by the Americans, and Lalich took over his duties.

Mim’s Memorabilia for Operation Halyard

Throughout my lifetime, I knew many of the men who made the Operation Halyard mission possible: Vujnovic, Musulin, Lalich, and Arthur (Jibby) Jibilian (all of the OSS), and Robert Marjanovich, Aliquippa St. Elijah parishioner, studying for the priesthood in Belgrade who became a valuable asset in the rescue because of his language skills.

I didn‘t know Mike Rajisich, but he also played a very pivotal role in the rescue and shouldn’t be forgotten!

As a youngster, I loved Captain Marvel and Superman, but these were my REAL LIVE heroes! And of course, although I never met General Draza Mihailovic in person, he was as real a “Čicha” to me as my own dear uncles.

Over the years, I also met many of the Rescued Airmen, still so vivid in my memory, although most have passed on. Among those were Dick Felman, Clare Musgrave, Curtis (Bud) Diles, Milton Friend, and my own Moon Township neighbor, Carl Walpusk, and others at various affairs, each one who to their last days, were always thanking the Serbian people and “Čicha” (Uncle) Draža Mihailović for their lives that they were able to enjoy with their future wives, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

My Pennsylvania State Representative in Harrisburg, Valerie Gaydos, made this trip possible for me. Only a few weeks before THE big date, I read an interview about this human dynamo representing the Sewickley and Moon Township areas. One question asked of her in an interview was, “What is your favorite book?” And without hesitation she answered, THE FORGOTTEN 500” by Gregory Freeman! Valerie had visited the National Air and Space Museum and saw the book in the Gift Shop. She was intrigued not only by the rescue itself, but also the fact that the heroes in this book had Pittsburgh connections!

I called her and explained how the 75th anniversary of this famous mission was going to take place, and would she want to go with me. Imagine my joy when she immediately exclaimed, “Yes!” Well, I couldn’t believe my ears and good fortune and with less than three weeks to plan, we were off to Serbia!

In the meantime, I wrote a letter to President Donald Trump, explaining the mission and hoping to have formal greetings from the White House, but as yet I haven’t heard back:

September 15, 2019 will mark the anniversary of a rescue of more than 500 U.S. and allied airmen from behind German-occupied lines in Pranjani, Serbia, by WWII General Draza Mihailovich and his Serbian Chetniks and loyal villagers (The Army of the Homeland). This is the largest rescue operation from behind enemy lines in our United States history, involving the O.S.S., the 15th U.S. Air Force and even the Tuskegee Airmen who flew cover, but it was all covered up for geostrategic political purposes. One of the greatest rescues in our history was hidden and forgotten!
During WWII, America lost almost ½ of its fleet of airplanes to bombing raids over the Ploesti Oil Fields in Romania, which fed the German war machines. Hundreds of our pilots lost their lives in trying to extinguish this source of fuel. Others, with liming airplanes, tried to make it back to their base in Italy. Many were shot down over Nazi-occupied Serbia. However, the Serbs, loyal to America in both World War I and World War II, found the downed airmen, and hid them without ever revealing where they were, some losing their lives in doing so. They housed these airmen, giving up their own beds to sleep on the floor, and they fed them, even though they had so little for themselves. In one of the most daring air rescues of all times, called “Operation Halyard,” the Serbs, with the help of the OSS and the 15th Air Force and the Tuskegee Airmen, managed to save them so that they could come back to America to loved ones, marry and raise families.
Alas, Churchill, and unwillingly the rest of the Allies, chose Communist Tito over the Royalist Chetniks, the Army of the Homeland. We all know what happened after that. Mihailovich was tried in a mock trial, found guilty and executed by a firing squad. Hundreds of American pilots from across the USA were willing to testify in his defense, but they were not allowed. These almost 500 U.S. airmen canvased the country, and whether they lived in California, Maine, Texas or Ohio, tried to tell their stories in their local newspapers about the rescue. I have a book compiled of all of these news clippings so you can be assured of the truth. A good book to read is THEFORGOTTEN 500 by Gregory Freeman.

Hurriedly, we planned out trip. Val and I visited good friend 95-year-old Carl Walpusk from Moon Township, rescued airman mentioned in Freeman’s book. He signed her book and she showed him the Citation from the House of Representatives in Pennsylvania, sending grateful greetings to the people in Pranjani, Serbia.

I had asked members of our St. Elijah Serbian Orthodox parish in Aliquippa to sign their names saluting the rescue and sending thanks and brotherly greetings to all involved. With the help of Fr. Branislav Golic of the St. Elijah S.O. parish in Aliquippa, I was able to collect five pages of happy signatures! Almost everyone we asked wanted to be a part of this event somehow.

At our Cornerstone Men’s Club picnic for our St. Elijah church only four days before we left, parishioner Valerie Tatalovich asked me if I was also collecting money to send. In the meantime, I had already sent a $200 donation just a few weeks before to the Halyard Mission Scholarship fund collected by a friend on line. It was part of a goal to reach $8,000 to give to graduating seniors at the Ivo Andric School in Pranjani. I told Val it was hard for me to ask others for money, but she said, “Nonsense!” And she and Wayne Tatalovich became our first donors with $200 in cash.

By the time I left the picnic, I had $520. I told my son by phone driving home how happy I was with that and he immediately said he’d send a check for $180 to make it an even $700. I was ecstatic! By the time I got to my apartment, there was an email stating that my cousin, Dennis Astorino, would send $500! I couldn’t believe it. My Astorino, Karlovich and LeFebvre cousins, sisters and good friends added much more. Our President of the Serb National Federation, John Martich not only brought a beautiful Proclamation, but a check for $1,000 from members of the SNF, and then added his own $100 in cash! I went over to Serbia with $4400 promised! “Just like the year, ‘44, the year of the rescue,” I thought! (Cvetican, Paich, Wuslich, Kosanovich, Leydig, Milosh, Torbic and Torbic.)
But even in our Belgrade hotel, the emails kept coming. Mark Rasevic from Washington, DC promised $500 more! Jeanette Czubek from Johnstown, PA said she wanted to make it an even $5,000, mentioning all her relatives so they could be a part of it: Jeannette Dudukovic Sikirica Czubak! Cousin Paul Belosh from Edinboro, added more, citing the gift was in the name of his five grandchildren. The messages kept coming in, even after we got home. (Papich, Malich, Tarbuck, Gedman, Trylovich, Kosanovich, Potkonjak, De Riva).

John Martich, then President of the Serb National Federation, brought a Proclamation from the SNF Members to the People of Pranjani, and a check for $1.000 for the Halyard Mission Scholarship Fund.

A total of $6,100 was sent to John Cappello, Director of the Mission Halyard Foundation, who the locals have lovingly started calling “St. John of Pranjani” for all he has been able to do to bring light to this important milestone in history that most people, especially those in the former Yugoslavia, had no idea about.

We arrived at Serbia’s wonderful, clean Nikola Tesla Airport. I had a handsome wheelchair escort, who sang happy Serbian songs with joyous me all through the long hallways, starting with “Oj, Srbijo, moja majka mila!” I thought my heart would burst from happiess. I’m lucky it didn’t burst wide open when I saw both my Danilovich and Markovich families waiting for me! This is SERBIA! Hospitality first class. It was a busy work day, but they were there! How meaningful that meeting was to me! After more than a decade of not seeing each other, it was like we had parted only yesterday.
We arrived at the hotel suggested by John Cappello, the Courtyard Marriott located right by the Opera House, the National Museum and the Monument to Prince Michael.

We cleaned up a little and I t didn’t matter that we hadn’t slept for two days, we were off again, meeting up at the hotel with cousin Paul Belosh of Edinboro, who had arrived several days earlier. Cousin Miloš Marković took the three of us touring to see the breathtaking St. Sava HRAM Crypt, and then to the University Library where the Halyard Mission Foundation had a reception highlighting many of the large photographs from the rescue.

Members of the USAF band played both Serbian and American tunes and there were both lovely desserts and liquid refreshments. It was a pleasure to see so many friends gathered here, starting with David Vuich, greeting us as we climbed the stairs. After several more exchanges with friends from Chicago and then Stephanie Lalich Jones and her beautiful family from Baltimore, Miloš commented, “Mim, you know more people in Belgrade than I do!” I truly loved being there, especially when I learned that our Pittsburgh Andrew Carnegie had donated that Library to Serbia, only one of three libraries that he gave to Europe after WWI.

From there, it was off to Skardalija, where every foreign visitor to Belgrade should visit. We were most graciously hosted by cousins Stojanka Mitić and Dragan Danilović at the Velika Skadarlija Restaurant, a wonderful choice with music delighting us as song after song played by the strolling tamburasi, and the food and presentation were delightful, so worthy of our “ohs and ahs!” As “Marširala” rang out, I sang my lungs out and rolled my arms as if waving the flag, and couldn’t help but think how proud our dear ancestors would be to know we hadn’t forgotten our roots and how here we all were, together for this special occasion. EVERYONE sang along, and that made my heart as happy as could be.

Our USAF Professor who accompanied three senior cadets from the USAF Academy holds a poster of the Pranjani rescue.

Off we went the next morning in two vans to our destination in Pranjani. In our van were Cousin Paul Belosh, 3 senior students from the Air Force Academy and their Professor, my “Sherpa”- Guardian Angel-Valerie Gaydos, journalist Nataša Stojanović, driver Milan Randjelovic and his friend Ilija Denic, and Ted Byfield, the son of rescued airman, Floyd Byfield, whose original crew was assigned to the airplane “Peepy,” but when he was shot down, he had been a substitute tail gunner on Lt. Harper’s “The Big Noise From Kentucky.” Ted proudly wore a replica of his jacket everywhere.
As we tossed up and down over the highways and by-ways, passing deep forests, I couldn’t help but exclaim, “No wonder how they could hide those airmen! Who could find them in these Šumadija woods?”

And then the defining sign for Gornji Milanovac! We were almost there! I thought of all of the people who I knew who had relatives that lived close by this area, like Nick and Nena Jovonovich and Andy Muha’s family. The excitement grew.
First we stopped at delightful Radiša Jevtović’s Bed and Breakfast, where the people in our other van were staying. It included several family members of the bombardier, the late +Charlie Davis, who was rescued and taken in by +Manojle Jevtovic and his family. These two families had forged a lifelong friendship. Members of rescued airman +Lt. Robert L. Cole’s family were also staying here. Radiša commented how very special it was that these two families were staying at the same “home” where their fathers/ grandfathers stayed while in Serbia. Xenia Wilkinson (George Vujnovic’s daughter) and her family, also stayed here. Although we didn’t stay here, our party ate here both nights while in Pranjani. It’s where we also met burly Fr. Vojislav too, for the first time, who amused us so much with his love for the Pittsburgh Steelers, bringing us up to date scores of the football game!

The Coles and Huspeths…. their father/grandfather was rescued by General Draza and the Serbs.

The Cole and Jeftovich families are VERY close!

Father, son and Mim! The wonderful Jeftovichs!

(Interestingly enough, +Lt. Robert Cole and Gen. Draza Mihailovich exchanged rings, and Draza’s ring is still in possession of the Cole family. On a photo just seen recently, of Mihailovich on trail, son Gary Cole wondered if the ring Draza had on was from his father! Wow!)

Pennsylvania Representative from the House Valerie Gaydos and new friend, Natasha Stojanovich, journalist from Belgrade.

We arrived at our Eco Selo Koštunića resort and I immediately thought of Emir Kostunica’s “Drvengrad,” with the lovely wooden cottages spread over the hillside. Val and I were like two “Heidi’s” in the mountain, but we had warm beds, inside toilet facilities, hot showers, a TV, fresh air and no complaints!

I wrote in the Guest Book at Eco Selo about how I knew about this rescue and of the Serbian and American heroes from the time I was seven years old!

We had a fine time talking with our new companions, and then off to bed for the next morning’s big festivities. We arrived at the actual airfield by 9:30 AM. It was exciting to hear the Serbian military band practice the “Star Spangled Banner.” Thank goodness there were a few chairs there by the stage where the dignitaries spoke set aside. People began arriving, and at 10:00 AM, the President of Serbia, Alexander Vucic, arrived and the ceremonies officially began. Both National Anthems were played and a solemn score as the wreaths were delivered with great dignity by US and Serbian officials, Allied countries, and descendants of the rescued airmen from the Smith and Cole families, with John Cappello leading them.

I was happy to meet up with Miodrag Nikitovich who was only 13 years old when two pilots stayed at his parents’ house. He was such a fine soul, we connected immediately, and talked and sang in between speakers, sharing our stories. On that Pranjani field, we sang the chorus of “Spremte, se Spremte!” to each other….quietly laughing away, thinking about how happy our ancestors would be.
Speeches were delivered by a former Yugoslav Air Force General, U.S. Air Force Major General Kirk Smith, Commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command in Europe, the Serbian President Aleksandar Vućić and the U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Kyle Scott who spoke in Serbian, and John Cappello, Director of Halyard Mission Foundation.All spoke of the heroism of the people involved, how ordinary citizens rose up to challenges to become the finest heroes.

Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic began by saying that the event brought us much closer to each other. “We speak about the heroic moves from both the Serbian people and American, Canadian and British pilot sin 1944. We succeeded in making terrific links between our two nations and I hope that we will be able to renew and revive this friendship.”

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and former U.S. Ambassador to Serbia, Kyle Scott. Scott spoke in Serbian.

Major General Kirk Smith said, “Instead of being killed by German patrols, the Airmen received a hero’s welcome from the brave Serbian families.”
U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Kyle Scott remarked to the crowd how ordinary people can rise to greatness, of what can be accomplished when we commit to goals larger than ourselves.

“With the selfless support of the Serbian people who cared for the aviators, who helped build an airstrip runway, this rescue became possible,” spoke John Cappello, President of the Halyard Mission Foundation.

After the formal ceremonies, a wonderful thing happened and I really don’t know how. Suddenly I was talking to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. The TV cameras were whirling and he said something like “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

I remembered him saying that he really only heard about the rescue two years ago or so, so I told him he had to look up my website, www.babamim.com, as it had so much information about General Draza Mihailovich and WWII and the rescue. He said, “Everyone spells “Baba” differently, how do you spell it?” I told him. He made me repeat it two more times for the cameras. Then looking straight at me, he replied, “I will look it up myself later this afternoon when I get home.” I almost fainted from happiness.

Wilkinson family with Fr. Vojislav Rasilovic and the iHalyard Mission icon donated by John Cappello to the Church in Pranjani.

After the formal ceremonies on Galovica Field, where thousands attended, it was off to the magnificently fresco-decorated Holy Ascension Serbian Orthodox Church for a short service led by Fr. Vojislav Rasilovic. The choir sang beautiful responses and I couldn’t help but feel emotional seeing the families of Nick Lalich, George Vujnovic all there together with the rescued airmen’s families too. I couldn’t help but notice that John Cappello was singing right along with the choir’s responses too. No wonder why the villagers love him so much! He had also donated a magnificent icon to the church showing the rescue of the airmen by the Serbian Chetnik villagers.

From there we walked to the Ivo Andric School about a block away and across the street. As we were walking, my heart melted as I saw my new friend Nikitovich yelling from his nephew’s car where he sat in the passenger’s seat up front, “Mil-e-na! Mil-a-na!” I reached over and we hugged and kissed one more time in brotherly love. That’s what this trip represented to me. ONE.

At the IVO ANDRIC School, presentations were made. We viewed three videos made by the children of the school representing the Halyard Mission. Valerie Gaydos exclaimed the meaning of her PA House of Representatives proclamation, and she gifted the school with an afghan showing the seal of the House. I also produced the book I had hastily finished putting together in the Dulles Airport in Washington before we left, documenting the names, the scholarship donations, photos from my father’s magazine, our visits with Carl Walpusk, and so much more.

I also turned over a beautiful throw that was entrusted to me by the airmen documenting the Halyard Mission operation who walked in a New York parade carrying the blanket that talked about the rescue of the 500 airmen. I explained that I took that blanket to display in many sites across Pennsylvania over the years as we talked about the rescue… in Johnstown, PA where the author of THE FORGOTTEN 500, Gregory Freeman, gave a speech about his book and George Musulin was inducted into the Cambria County Hall of Fame; in Pittsburgh at the Holy Trinity Cathedral for a talk to the Nikola Tesla Men’s Club; at Robert Morris University where Carl Walpusk was honored for Constitution Day a few years ago, and several more. But it was getting time to pass the treasure on, and I could think of no better place to turn it over to than to the school where children could see how grateful people across the Atlantic Ocean never forgot either.

There was a lovely, but very crowded reception at the school with many desserts and drinks. Val, Stephanie Lalich and I were happy to meet the great-grandson of General Draza Mihailovich!

Beautiful informal ceremonies followed with the United States Air Force Band playing tunes, and John Cappello awarded gifts to more identified families that rescued the flyers, one woman kissing her father’s name, and children were recognized for their achievements. There was also a paper airplane flying contest, with two young boys assuming ownership of two handsome bikes for their winning efforts.

Eight thousand Chetniks had guarded the Serbian airmen before they made their journey home in 1944. Afterwards, many were severely persecuted at the hands of the Communists, some imprisoned, others were called TRAITORS and beaten brutally. But here they were, now legitimately being called the “greatest Heroes.” It was with the greatest pleasure I heard those words and all the people on stage saying this was THE greatest rescue ever from behind enemy lines, and repatriation. Ever.

And Eliot Jordan Belosh will know ALL about it!

The next morning found us leaving Selo Eco Kostinici to drive back to the Belgrade airport, and then another great news event. SNF member Jordan Belosh contacted his father, cousin Paul Belosh, alerting him that his fifth grandchild, Elliot Jordan was born and healthy, the first male child to carry on the BELOSH name. Good thing we had to stop at the Jevtovic’s B&B to pick up other passengers. Paul jumped off the van to pick up some more great rakija from their “store,” for celebrating later! Here comes one more Serb National Federation member! Our +Mamula/Karajlovich relatives had to be beaming away in Heaven this weekend! What a whirlwind trip!

Paul Belosh jumped out of the van while we stopped at the Rajski Konjaci to buy some rakija to help celebrate Eliot Jordan Belosh’s birth back home!

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Update: We celebrated Jordan Eliot’s Christening in the Holy Trinity Serbian Orthodox Church on Saturday, 12/7/19

From our family to yours, ENJOY!

As far as your eyes could see! (Click the lower right hand corner to expand the photo.) And parked Buses, Vans and Cars were everywhere!

Our Serbian kids represented us well!

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The Serbian Band stirringly played the “Star Spangled Banner” and “Boze Pravde!”

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Gone, but never forgotten!

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We were very fortunate to have good press coverage of the exciting event in Pranjani, Serbia, in the Sewickley HERALD (Oct. 28, 2019), the American SRBOBRAN (Nov. 20, 2019, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s “Next Page” (Nov. 24, 2019).

The Superintendent of the Ivo Andric School, Mim Bizic, and John Cappello.

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There was also TV coverage on Veteran’s Day, 11/11/19 by WTAE (Channel 4 in Pittsburgh, PA USA) as they came to rescued airman Carl Walpusk’s home in Moon Township as he received a Proclamation from PA State Representative, Valerie Gaydos. Many of his family members were present.

A huge 75th Halyard Mission Anniversary appeared in the display case at the Masonic Village of Sewickley in time for Veteran’s Day and received mamy compliments during the six weeks of the display.

(And now, this website!)

Mim Bizic with her display case of the Halyard Mission at the Masonic Village of Sewickley, where she now resides.

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(Posters courtesy of Mission Halyard and Bojan Dragicevic

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Retired Quaker Valley Teacher, Rep. Valerie Gaydos travel to Serbia for WWII Anniversary

by Natalie Miller

Of World War II’s countless accounts of devastation and triumph — the Attack on Pearl Harbor, the Siege of Leningrad, the Battle of the Bulge — Operation Halyard is one of the more obscure.
For Mim Bizic, though, the amazing-but-true account of a secret mission in which more than 500 Allied airmen were rescued from Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia is one she has cherished since childhood.

“To me, they were real-life American heroes,” said Bizic, a retired Quaker Valley School District teacher. “Everyone else had Captain Marvel and Superman. I had my Pittsburgh heroes.”

Toward the end of World War II, hundreds of Allied airmen were being shot down by the Germans in a region that is now Serbia. As many as 50% of Allied planes that flew over the area were shot down as they targeted the Ploesti oil fields that supplied German war machines. Many were killed or captured.