Mary Mostert
Deceiving Americans to appease communists and terrorists
By Mary Mostert
On the first day that my article last week on the World War II Serb leader, General Draza Mihailovich who saved the lives of hundreds of American airmen shot down over Yugoslavia I heard from a reader, Amir, who identified himself as a "Bosniak" and "a victim and survivor of the Bosnian Holocaust by the same Serb radicals you are supporting so openly." "Bosniak" is a word coined in the 1990s that refers to what used to be called "Bosnian Muslims. I reported in that article that I had received "an e-mail from a reader that told me the Legion of Merit would be presented to the World War II Serbian leader, Draza Mihailovich." I then tried to find out whether it was true, as I had been told that there were efforts to block the presentation."
Amir identified himself as a "UN employee." Apparently, from what he told me, the UN gave the Bosnians their weapons when Serbs attacked after the UN ignored the burning of towns and killing Serbs in nearby towns. Amir observed in his first e-mail that if it "is really true, (that the Legion of Merit was given to Mihailovich) the US government is making an uncalculated historical mistake that will insult thousands of survivors and victim families of Bosnian Holocaust from the 1990's war and WWII alike."
Think about this for a moment. To appease communists, and placate Muslim fundamentalists in oil producing nations for SIXTY YEARS the American people have been deceived! In the 1990s we not only allowed Muslim fundamentalists in the Balkans to be armed by Osama bin Laden to kill Serbs and burn down their churches, we helped them by supplying air support to bomb the Serbs!
As I tried to track down the story of Mihailovich and the Legion of Merit, a number of other readers chimed in. Ann sent me Chapter 25 from David Martin's book, published in 1990, entitled: "The Web of Disinformation: Churchill's Yugoslav Blunder" that gave an account not only of the rescue of US airmen by the Serbs in World War II but an account of President Truman awarding Mihailovich the Legion of Merit on March 29, 1948.
The Legion of Merit of course never was given to Mihailovich because he was executed on the order of the Yugoslav communist dictator Josip Tito on July 17th, 1946. The story of the award of the Legion of Merit to Mihailovich was never told to the American people in order to appease communist dictators like Tito and Stalin. For the first and only time in American history, the award of the Legion of Merit was classified and kept secret. The facts about the award were not made public until Congressman Edward J. Derwinski of Illinois intervened in 1967 and insisted that the State Department make the text of President Truman's citation public.
In these past 60 years those hundreds of American airmen, because of Mihailovich, lived, returned home, married, raised families and, those still alive, have grandchildren. It is now 2005 sixty years after those airmen were saved and I received today from Alex in Belgrade the "rest of the story" and even pictures of the 78 year old daughter of Mihailovich actually receiving her father's Legion on Merit in Belgrade on Monday, May 9th. .
Alex reported to me today what happened:
THE MEDAL'S LONG JOURNEY HOME
"The medal is a sign of gratitude," says US ambassador to Belgrade. After 57 years, the Legion of Merit awarded by US President Truman to general Mihailovich, has finally reached Serbia
Special report by Alex M.
Belgrade
On May 9, 2005, the world marked the end of World War 2, the defeat of Nazism and fascism, and Europe marked its day. The world remembered the 40 million who died in that war, of which 27 million were Soviets, 6 million were Jews (1.7 million were Serbs fighting on the Allied side) ... and at the same time, signs of hope and optimism for the future prevailed.
For Serbia, US ally in both World Wars, a small Balkan country which has suffered enormously in those wars; it was a long awaited day, for a medal has come home, after 57 years of waiting and diplomatic cover-up.
"General Dragoljub Mihailovich distinguished himself in an outstanding manner as Commander-in-Chief of the Yugoslav 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." US President Harry S. Truman, March 29, 1948.
The Legion of Merit is the highest ranking medal that the US can give to a foreign national. It was given to General Dragoljub Draza Mihailovich for the rescue of 500 US pilots and servicemen who would have been captured by the Nazis, but were instead rescued by Serbia's Tchetniks and general Mihailovich, cared for by the Serbian people, often at great risks to their own lives and homes. Those American men were able to return to the US and raise children and grandchildren there, in freedom, prosperity and democracy. But, they never forgot who saved them the Serbian people.
The gratitude of those airmen who survived can be seen in a very moving speech by the late US AF Major Felman, who unfortunately died in 1999, but has dedicated the entire 50 years of his life to tell the world the truth, and he did. May he rest in peace. The truth that he would not have been alive, and many others, if it weren't for general Mihailovich, whom the communists had executed after a kangaroo court, in cold blood, as a "traitor." Two years after the "traitor" was executed, US President Truman awarded the Legion of Merit.
Today, it is still not known where general Mihailovich's earthly remains are buried. But, at last, the medal has come home. The Croats, the Bosnian Muslims, the Kosovo Albanians, all of them can yell and scream and bite their fingernails off and do whatever the heck they want but the fact is: NO Bosnian Muslims, NO Kosovo Albanians or NO Croats saved any AMERICAN pilots in WWII...NEVER, not one. But, the Serbs did.
The medal was hidden in the US archives because the US administration was not ready to spoil its relations with post-war communist Yugoslavia, which played a key role in balancing between the East and the West.
57 years later, the award was finally given, it was something that seemed like it would never happen. A small reception took place at the US military attachι's residence in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Those present included: Arthur Jibilian, one of the rescued men that is also mentioned in Major Felman's speech (given on D day in 1994), Robert Wilson and Mr. Musgrove (I am not sure if that is spelled right, because I have his name in Serbian but not in English). Also, Charles Davis, president of the Committee for Draza Mihailovich, and US senator of Serbian origin, George Vojinovich.
They handed over the Legion of Merit to Gordana Mihailovich, the fallen general's daughter. She is now 78 years old and is a retired medical doctor. Over the years, nothing was known about her, except several pieces of information in the media that she joined (was forced into) Tito's partisans and made a promise not to appear in public. We suppose she was threatened, blackmailed or in other ways forced by communists to join and accept the Partisan communist movement led by Josip Broz Tito, who after the war became Yugoslavia's lifetime president, i.e. communist dictator, who ruled with a brutal and iron grip.
According to senator Vojinovich, Gordana was very nervous and excited, her hands were trembling. When she received the medal, she broke into tears and cries, and she kissed her father's photograph. It was a very emotional moment indeed. She insisted that no media be present, but some pictures have been taken supposedly by Protocol staff. Those have leaked into the media and thus, for the first time, the Serbian public could see what she looks like. The first to publish Gordana's photos was Belgrade daily "Kurir."
The following day, she announced that she will stay away from publicity, but the media chased her, called her on the phone and went to her doorstep. When a newspaper crew from Belgrade daily "Vecernje Novosti" finally managed to ask her a few quick questions, regarding what she will do with the medal, she said: "I will hold on to it, for a while. After that I will give it to the Serbian Orthodox Church."
"The most important thing is that the medal, the highest medal that America can give to a foreign national, has finally come to Belgrade," Vuk Draskovic, minister of foreign affairs of Serbia and Montenegro and leader of the SPO (Serbian Renewal Movement) party, has said. He received the US delegation at the restaurant on the 7th floor of the Slavia-Lux hotel in downtown Belgrade. Also present was the army minister of Serbia and Montenegro, Prvoslav Davinic.
"The fact that the Legion of Merit has been given to my grandfather, Draza Mihailovich, totally breaks the communist theory and proves that the tchetniks, also known as the Ravna Gora movement, were an Allied army," said Vojislav Mihailovich, the grandson of general Mihailovich. He said he is tremendously happy that the medal has finally reached Serbia, after 57 long years.
"The Legion of Merit is a sign of gratitude," said the US ambassador to Belgrade, His Excellency Michael Polt. "All those American lives were saved," he added in an interview for B92. He also said that it's time to close one chapter of history.
On Sunday, May 15, 2005, Serbia will mark the day Mihailovich refused to accept the capitulation of his country, the then Kingdom of Yugoslavia, to the Nazis. "The word capitulate does not exist in the Serbian language," he said as he gathered his resistance troops on Mt. Ravna Gora in Serbia. He thus became the first anti-Nazi guerrilla leader in occupied Europe. He was featured on Time Magazine as well... The ceremony on Sunday will take place on Mt. Ravna Gora, now a kind of a national park with a church and a monument to general Mihailovich. The celebrations have started taking place there in 1990, and were organized by SPO. On Sunday, for the first time, the event will be officially organized by the Government of Serbia. Foreign diplomats will be present, as well as Mrs. Gordana Mihailovich with the medal.
The Serbian parliament has recently voted that all recognized Tchetnik fighters will enjoy the same privileges and rights as Tito's Partisans. The Serbs in schools now learn a more balanced history that in fact, in occupied Serbia, there was a brutal civil war between the Communists and the Royalists (i.e. the Partisans and the Tchetniks), who fought each other, but also fought the enemy and that included fighting against the Nazis, the Italians, the Bulgarians, the Hungarians, the Albanians, the Croatian Ustase (Ustashi) etc. But, the communists had managed to win the war and grab absolute power, and then the twisting of history began.
However, lies cannot prevail, as we now can see.
© Mary Mostert
On the first day that my article last week on the World War II Serb leader, General Draza Mihailovich who saved the lives of hundreds of American airmen shot down over Yugoslavia I heard from a reader, Amir, who identified himself as a "Bosniak" and "a victim and survivor of the Bosnian Holocaust by the same Serb radicals you are supporting so openly." "Bosniak" is a word coined in the 1990s that refers to what used to be called "Bosnian Muslims. I reported in that article that I had received "an e-mail from a reader that told me the Legion of Merit would be presented to the World War II Serbian leader, Draza Mihailovich." I then tried to find out whether it was true, as I had been told that there were efforts to block the presentation."
Amir identified himself as a "UN employee." Apparently, from what he told me, the UN gave the Bosnians their weapons when Serbs attacked after the UN ignored the burning of towns and killing Serbs in nearby towns. Amir observed in his first e-mail that if it "is really true, (that the Legion of Merit was given to Mihailovich) the US government is making an uncalculated historical mistake that will insult thousands of survivors and victim families of Bosnian Holocaust from the 1990's war and WWII alike."
Think about this for a moment. To appease communists, and placate Muslim fundamentalists in oil producing nations for SIXTY YEARS the American people have been deceived! In the 1990s we not only allowed Muslim fundamentalists in the Balkans to be armed by Osama bin Laden to kill Serbs and burn down their churches, we helped them by supplying air support to bomb the Serbs!
As I tried to track down the story of Mihailovich and the Legion of Merit, a number of other readers chimed in. Ann sent me Chapter 25 from David Martin's book, published in 1990, entitled: "The Web of Disinformation: Churchill's Yugoslav Blunder" that gave an account not only of the rescue of US airmen by the Serbs in World War II but an account of President Truman awarding Mihailovich the Legion of Merit on March 29, 1948.
The Legion of Merit of course never was given to Mihailovich because he was executed on the order of the Yugoslav communist dictator Josip Tito on July 17th, 1946. The story of the award of the Legion of Merit to Mihailovich was never told to the American people in order to appease communist dictators like Tito and Stalin. For the first and only time in American history, the award of the Legion of Merit was classified and kept secret. The facts about the award were not made public until Congressman Edward J. Derwinski of Illinois intervened in 1967 and insisted that the State Department make the text of President Truman's citation public.
In these past 60 years those hundreds of American airmen, because of Mihailovich, lived, returned home, married, raised families and, those still alive, have grandchildren. It is now 2005 sixty years after those airmen were saved and I received today from Alex in Belgrade the "rest of the story" and even pictures of the 78 year old daughter of Mihailovich actually receiving her father's Legion on Merit in Belgrade on Monday, May 9th. .
Alex reported to me today what happened:
"The medal is a sign of gratitude," says US ambassador to Belgrade. After 57 years, the Legion of Merit awarded by US President Truman to general Mihailovich, has finally reached Serbia
Special report by Alex M.
Belgrade
On May 9, 2005, the world marked the end of World War 2, the defeat of Nazism and fascism, and Europe marked its day. The world remembered the 40 million who died in that war, of which 27 million were Soviets, 6 million were Jews (1.7 million were Serbs fighting on the Allied side) ... and at the same time, signs of hope and optimism for the future prevailed.
For Serbia, US ally in both World Wars, a small Balkan country which has suffered enormously in those wars; it was a long awaited day, for a medal has come home, after 57 years of waiting and diplomatic cover-up.
"General Dragoljub Mihailovich distinguished himself in an outstanding manner as Commander-in-Chief of the Yugoslav 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." US President Harry S. Truman, March 29, 1948.
The Legion of Merit is the highest ranking medal that the US can give to a foreign national. It was given to General Dragoljub Draza Mihailovich for the rescue of 500 US pilots and servicemen who would have been captured by the Nazis, but were instead rescued by Serbia's Tchetniks and general Mihailovich, cared for by the Serbian people, often at great risks to their own lives and homes. Those American men were able to return to the US and raise children and grandchildren there, in freedom, prosperity and democracy. But, they never forgot who saved them the Serbian people.
The gratitude of those airmen who survived can be seen in a very moving speech by the late US AF Major Felman, who unfortunately died in 1999, but has dedicated the entire 50 years of his life to tell the world the truth, and he did. May he rest in peace. The truth that he would not have been alive, and many others, if it weren't for general Mihailovich, whom the communists had executed after a kangaroo court, in cold blood, as a "traitor." Two years after the "traitor" was executed, US President Truman awarded the Legion of Merit.
Today, it is still not known where general Mihailovich's earthly remains are buried. But, at last, the medal has come home. The Croats, the Bosnian Muslims, the Kosovo Albanians, all of them can yell and scream and bite their fingernails off and do whatever the heck they want but the fact is: NO Bosnian Muslims, NO Kosovo Albanians or NO Croats saved any AMERICAN pilots in WWII...NEVER, not one. But, the Serbs did.
The medal was hidden in the US archives because the US administration was not ready to spoil its relations with post-war communist Yugoslavia, which played a key role in balancing between the East and the West.
57 years later, the award was finally given, it was something that seemed like it would never happen. A small reception took place at the US military attachι's residence in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Those present included: Arthur Jibilian, one of the rescued men that is also mentioned in Major Felman's speech (given on D day in 1994), Robert Wilson and Mr. Musgrove (I am not sure if that is spelled right, because I have his name in Serbian but not in English). Also, Charles Davis, president of the Committee for Draza Mihailovich, and US senator of Serbian origin, George Vojinovich.
They handed over the Legion of Merit to Gordana Mihailovich, the fallen general's daughter. She is now 78 years old and is a retired medical doctor. Over the years, nothing was known about her, except several pieces of information in the media that she joined (was forced into) Tito's partisans and made a promise not to appear in public. We suppose she was threatened, blackmailed or in other ways forced by communists to join and accept the Partisan communist movement led by Josip Broz Tito, who after the war became Yugoslavia's lifetime president, i.e. communist dictator, who ruled with a brutal and iron grip.
According to senator Vojinovich, Gordana was very nervous and excited, her hands were trembling. When she received the medal, she broke into tears and cries, and she kissed her father's photograph. It was a very emotional moment indeed. She insisted that no media be present, but some pictures have been taken supposedly by Protocol staff. Those have leaked into the media and thus, for the first time, the Serbian public could see what she looks like. The first to publish Gordana's photos was Belgrade daily "Kurir."
The following day, she announced that she will stay away from publicity, but the media chased her, called her on the phone and went to her doorstep. When a newspaper crew from Belgrade daily "Vecernje Novosti" finally managed to ask her a few quick questions, regarding what she will do with the medal, she said: "I will hold on to it, for a while. After that I will give it to the Serbian Orthodox Church."
"The most important thing is that the medal, the highest medal that America can give to a foreign national, has finally come to Belgrade," Vuk Draskovic, minister of foreign affairs of Serbia and Montenegro and leader of the SPO (Serbian Renewal Movement) party, has said. He received the US delegation at the restaurant on the 7th floor of the Slavia-Lux hotel in downtown Belgrade. Also present was the army minister of Serbia and Montenegro, Prvoslav Davinic.
"The fact that the Legion of Merit has been given to my grandfather, Draza Mihailovich, totally breaks the communist theory and proves that the tchetniks, also known as the Ravna Gora movement, were an Allied army," said Vojislav Mihailovich, the grandson of general Mihailovich. He said he is tremendously happy that the medal has finally reached Serbia, after 57 long years.
"The Legion of Merit is a sign of gratitude," said the US ambassador to Belgrade, His Excellency Michael Polt. "All those American lives were saved," he added in an interview for B92. He also said that it's time to close one chapter of history.
On Sunday, May 15, 2005, Serbia will mark the day Mihailovich refused to accept the capitulation of his country, the then Kingdom of Yugoslavia, to the Nazis. "The word capitulate does not exist in the Serbian language," he said as he gathered his resistance troops on Mt. Ravna Gora in Serbia. He thus became the first anti-Nazi guerrilla leader in occupied Europe. He was featured on Time Magazine as well... The ceremony on Sunday will take place on Mt. Ravna Gora, now a kind of a national park with a church and a monument to general Mihailovich. The celebrations have started taking place there in 1990, and were organized by SPO. On Sunday, for the first time, the event will be officially organized by the Government of Serbia. Foreign diplomats will be present, as well as Mrs. Gordana Mihailovich with the medal.
The Serbian parliament has recently voted that all recognized Tchetnik fighters will enjoy the same privileges and rights as Tito's Partisans. The Serbs in schools now learn a more balanced history that in fact, in occupied Serbia, there was a brutal civil war between the Communists and the Royalists (i.e. the Partisans and the Tchetniks), who fought each other, but also fought the enemy and that included fighting against the Nazis, the Italians, the Bulgarians, the Hungarians, the Albanians, the Croatian Ustase (Ustashi) etc. But, the communists had managed to win the war and grab absolute power, and then the twisting of history began.
However, lies cannot prevail, as we now can see.
© Mary Mostert
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