September 16, 2004
Embassy of the United States
of America
Belgrade
WWII Veterans Delegation
Visit Serbia
A group of American World War II veterans visited Serbia September
9-16 at the invitation of Serbia and Montenegro's Foreign Minister
Vuk Draskovic to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of Operation
Halyard, when troops led by General Dragoljub Mihailovic saved the
lives of several hundred U.S. airmen who were shot down over Serbia
by Nazi forces.
During the Summer of 1944 approximately 1, 000 U.S. airmen bailed
out over German-occupied Yugoslavia, a significant number of them
landing in Serbia. In a series of daylight and night airlifts, a
team made up of troops of General Mihailovic's Royal Yugoslav Army
in the Homeland and the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) evacuated
over 250 U.S. airmen from the village of Pranjani.
The rescue of the U.S. airmen involved small unit actions against
German troops and put at risk entire Serb villages that sheltered
the U.S. personnel. U.S. airmen bear testimony to the significant
sacrifices of local Serb villagers who fed, cared for and protected
them, in some cases up to six months.
The four American veterans, Clare Musgrove, Art Jiblian, George Vujnovich
and Robert Wilson visited Pranjani again on September 12, 2004 for
the unveiling of a commemorative plaque at the Pranjani airfield.
From Left to Right: Front Row Seated, all four veterans: Clare Musgrove,
Art Jiblian, George Vujnovich, Robert Wilson; Second Row: Mrs. Beverly
Jo Jiblian, Mrs. Sharon Wilson; Third Row: Bojan Dimitrijevic from
the MFA, Mrs. Karen Milutinovic, George Knezevic, MAJ Aleks Milutinovic,
MAJ Tom Newcomb, Charge Roderick
Moore, MAJ Sam Shult,
Mrs. Chris Drake, COL Gordon Drake; Last Row:
Gordon Musgrove
Plaque unveiled at former Pranjani airstrip
From Left to Right: Clare Musgrove, Mrs. Beverly Jo Jiblian, Art
Jiblian, Robert Wilson, Mrs. Sharon Wilson,
George Vujnovich
FM Vuk Draskovic and veterans at former Pranjani airstrip
From Left to Right: Mrs. Karen Milutinovic, George Vujnovich, COL
Gordon Drake, MAJ Aleks Milutinovic
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