U.S. ambassador honors rescuers of U.S. airmen

Nice to see some truth finally, instead of constant anti-Serb propoganda from the likes of the entire Clinton administration.
"General Dragoljub Mihailovich distinguished himself in an outstanding manner as Commander-in-Chief of the Yugoslavian Army Forces and later as Minister of War by organizing and leading important resistance forces against the enemy which occupied Yugoslavia, from December 1941 to December 1944. Through the undaunted efforts of his troops, many United States airmen were rescued and returned safely to friendly control. General Mihailovich and his forces, although lacking adequate supplies, and fighting under extreme hardships, contributed materially to the Allied cause, and were instrumental in obtaining a final Allied victory." March 29, 1948, Harry S. Truman.
General Mihajlovic was awarded the Legion of Merit, the highest honour available to non-Americans, posthumously in 1948.
Even after Mihajlovic's men were abandoned by western allies, they still did not collaborate with the Nazis. An independent American commission came to the following conclusion:
"ALLEGED COLLABORATION WITH THE ENEMY No evidence was adduced before the commission which tended to show any collaboration between General Mihailović and the Axis powers. On the contrary, all the evidence tended strongly to disprove the existence of any such collaboration. …all classes of witnesses were constantly on the lookout for collaboration, had full opportunity to discover it, and would be expected to discover it if it had existed. … all the witnesses testified that in Mihailović territory they were allowed to go freely, and without escort, wherever they wanted, to talk without restriction to civilians and soldiers alike, and to make observations as they wished.
So, despite all the propoganda you hear from the Croat, Bosnian Muslim, or albanian sides, this man and his army were true heros.

This rescue turned into gratitude then into friendship, which then turned into a source of pride in the U.S. and Canada for the Serb grandchildren of the WWII generation.

The present day descendants of all those American servicemen owe their existence to the bravery and courage of the Serbs who risked their own lives to save the lives of our airmen.Thank you Serbia for those who know the real history understand how much America owes to you.God bless America and Zivila Serbia.

SHOCK! American government person does something worthwhile regarding Serbs! I almost fell off my chair! Any more stories like this and I might die of a heart attack!

For once, a story where the Americans are not trying to hive off Serbian real estate to placate eager, gullible domestic politicians in Washington who have been paid-off by foreign lobby groups.

The 'Halyard' Operation was the biggest rescue of servicemen from behind enemy lines and it is good to see that they have not forgotten this. The previous 6 decades or so were not helped by the Americans dropping off weapons to the Communists on the very same planes that they landed to pick up their downed air servicemen because the Communists fought against the rescuers of the Americans and prevailed politically.

Nice gesture. The good thing is that they did not forget those people who helped them

Nice to see that an American representative is ready to pay tribute to General Draža Mihailović's from the Royal Yugoslav Army. That General has later been seen by many as somebody that should not be honored.

RE: WWII

Let’s not forget that Germany might not have started killing Serbs (1:100) and shooting down U.S. planes in Royal Yugoslavia if 17 year old King Petar hadn’t refused to allow Germany to travel through his Yugoslavia on their way to Greece. All they wanted to do is use Yugoslavia as a highway, that was the dilemma at the time. Germany did not declare war on the Serbs prior to the Coup d'État installation of King Petar. King Petar’s uncle, regent at the time, had more wisdom and understanding of bloodshed, hence his decision for a highway pact, as opposed to bloodshed and eventual takeover by the opportunist communists.

What’s your WWII hindsight? How many millions of Yugoslavs died in WWII? Did the hatred created in WWII Yugoslavia continue into North America post-WWII?

Nice to see that an American representative is ready to pay tribute to General Draža Mihailović's from the Royal Yugoslav Army. That General has later been seen by many as somebody that should not be honored.

RE: WWII

Let’s not forget that Germany might not have started killing Serbs (1:100) and shooting down U.S. planes in Royal Yugoslavia if 17 year old King Petar hadn’t refused to allow Germany to travel through his Yugoslavia on their way to Greece. All they wanted to do is use Yugoslavia as a highway, that was the dilemma at the time. Germany did not declare war on the Serbs prior to the Coup d'État installation of King Petar. King Petar’s uncle, regent at the time, had more wisdom and understanding of bloodshed, hence his decision for a highway pact, as opposed to bloodshed and eventual takeover by the opportunist communists.

What’s your WWII hindsight? How many millions of Yugoslavs died in WWII? Did the hatred created in WWII Yugoslavia continue into North America post-WWII?

This rescue turned into gratitude then into friendship, which then turned into a source of pride in the U.S. and Canada for the Serb grandchildren of the WWII generation.

SHOCK! American government person does something worthwhile regarding Serbs! I almost fell off my chair! Any more stories like this and I might die of a heart attack!

For once, a story where the Americans are not trying to hive off Serbian real estate to placate eager, gullible domestic politicians in Washington who have been paid-off by foreign lobby groups.

The 'Halyard' Operation was the biggest rescue of servicemen from behind enemy lines and it is good to see that they have not forgotten this. The previous 6 decades or so were not helped by the Americans dropping off weapons to the Communists on the very same planes that they landed to pick up their downed air servicemen because the Communists fought against the rescuers of the Americans and prevailed politically.

Nice gesture. The good thing is that they did not forget those people who helped them

The present day descendants of all those American servicemen owe their existence to the bravery and courage of the Serbs who risked their own lives to save the lives of our airmen.Thank you Serbia for those who know the real history understand how much America owes to you.God bless America and Zivila Serbia.

Nice to see some truth finally, instead of constant anti-Serb propoganda from the likes of the entire Clinton administration.
"General Dragoljub Mihailovich distinguished himself in an outstanding manner as Commander-in-Chief of the Yugoslavian Army Forces and later as Minister of War by organizing and leading important resistance forces against the enemy which occupied Yugoslavia, from December 1941 to December 1944. Through the undaunted efforts of his troops, many United States airmen were rescued and returned safely to friendly control. General Mihailovich and his forces, although lacking adequate supplies, and fighting under extreme hardships, contributed materially to the Allied cause, and were instrumental in obtaining a final Allied victory." March 29, 1948, Harry S. Truman.
General Mihajlovic was awarded the Legion of Merit, the highest honour available to non-Americans, posthumously in 1948.
Even after Mihajlovic's men were abandoned by western allies, they still did not collaborate with the Nazis. An independent American commission came to the following conclusion:
"ALLEGED COLLABORATION WITH THE ENEMY No evidence was adduced before the commission which tended to show any collaboration between General Mihailović and the Axis powers. On the contrary, all the evidence tended strongly to disprove the existence of any such collaboration. …all classes of witnesses were constantly on the lookout for collaboration, had full opportunity to discover it, and would be expected to discover it if it had existed. … all the witnesses testified that in Mihailović territory they were allowed to go freely, and without escort, wherever they wanted, to talk without restriction to civilians and soldiers alike, and to make observations as they wished.
So, despite all the propoganda you hear from the Croat, Bosnian Muslim, or albanian sides, this man and his army were true heros.