BLAGOJEVIĆ: HALYARD MISSION A FURTHER BASIS FOR STRENGTHENING TIES BETWEEN SERBS AND AMERICANS

DOBOJ, JUNE 24 /SRNA/ - Former governor of the U.S. state of Illinois Rod Blagojevich said it was a great honour to be in Boljanić today and emphasized that the Halyard mission, conducted by members of the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland to rescue Allied pilots 81 years ago, represents a further foundation for strengthening ties between the Serb and American peoples.

Blagojević, a close associate of U.S. President Donald Trump, noted that he is a descendant of immigrants from Herzegovina and that his father was a World War II prisoner, from whom he learned much about that period and about General Dragoljub Mihailović, the commander of the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland. He stated that he was likely the only governor in the U.S. who knows the song "Sprem'te se, sprem'te četnici" /Get Ready, Chetniks/, which he learned from his father, who also told him stories about Serbs' bravery during the Halyard mission. Blagojević stressed the importance of passing on the stories he heard from his ancestors and facts of the Serb national history, including those about Operation Halyard operation, to future generations. "It is an honour to be here today and to pay tribute to the sacrifice and bravery of the Serbs who saved Allied pilots and risked their own lives," Blagojević said during his speech in Boljanić near Doboj, where he laid a wreath. He described the President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik as a fighter for the truth and stated that all Serb diaspora members in the USA are grateful to him. He highlighted the importance of establishing good relations between Serbia, Republika Srpska, and the U.S.A, pointing out that they share the same values - belief in the same God and common interests. Blagojević remarked that, unfortunately, some generations in America have forgotten those values and declared that "a new day has dawned" in the US with President Donald Trump, who shares the same values as Dodik and supports reconnecting the Serb and American peoples. He announced that upon returning to the US, he would tell all his close acquaintances about Serbs as a heroic people. Blagojević also greeted Vaskrsije Janković, an elder from Boljanić, who as a child remembered that period and, along with stories from contemporaries, co-authored the monograph "The Rescue of Allied Aviators". In addition to Blagojević, the envoy of the president of Republika Srpska, Boris Jerinić - who is also the Mayor of Doboj - laid a wreath alongside a delegation from Srpska. Present in Boljanić were also parliament member of the Republika Srpska National Assembly Danijel Jošić, the head of the SNSD caucus in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH Sanja Vulić, Deputy Minister in the Council of Ministers Aleksandar Goganović and member of the Halyard Foundation Board Ratko Ristić. In Operation Halyard – The Airlift, carried out by the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland under the command of General Dragoljub Draža Mihailović, more than 500 Allied pilots were rescued, including sixty in Boljanić alone. The Airlift operation was the largest rescue mission of American soldiers behind enemy lines during 1944 and 1945. Under pressure from partisan forces, the Supreme Command of the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland withdrew from Serbia to eastern Bosnia in mid-October 1944. Near the village of Boljanić on Mount Ozren, an airfield was made operational between October 22 and November 1, 1944. In 2021, the President of the Halyard Foundation, John Cappello, posthumously awarded a decoration in Boljanić to Cvijetin Todić, commander of the Ozren Chetnik Brigade of the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland, for rescuing Allied pilots during this operation. The award was received by his grandson, Darko Despotović, who emphasized that Serb heroes must not be forgotten and stated that the Chetnik movement in the Ozren area had prevented genocide against Serbs during World War II.