DESPOTOVIĆ: SERBS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THERE BEING ANYTHING TO COMMEMORATE IN BOLJANIĆ AT ALL

DOBOJ, SEPTEMBER 21 /SRNA/ - Darko Despotović, grandson of Cvijetin Todić, commander of the Ozren Chetnik Corps of the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland, said that it was precisely his grandfather and the locals of Boljanić who deserve credit for making it possible to have something to commemorate here today - Operation Halyard, which, after a long time, is now also being recognized by some from the countries whose airmen were rescued.

Despotović pointed out that the courage of the Serbs in the Second World War was all the greater because it took place in an occupied land under the rule of the Independent State of Croatia, where Serbs, Jews, and Roma were outlawed. Despotović said that he came to Boljanić today with his family as a sign of gratitude to the heroes of Halyard, the Serbs who took part in the rescue of the Allied pilots, adding that it was a great honor to be there today. “It is a great honor also to be a descendant of someone who took part in this and made a great contribution, and at the same time, I must express my feelings toward the people from America and their way of showing gratitude to this nation,” Despotović told reporters. Recalling the stories he had heard from his grandmother, he emphasized that the first two Allied pilots found on Ozren stayed in the home of his grandfather, Colonel Cvijetin Todić, who personally set an example for his fighters on how they should behave. He noted that people of that time shared the little food they had, even though they did not have enough for their own families, to host the downed pilots, something that, unfortunately, has been almost forgotten. The 81st anniversary of Operation Halyard – the Air Bridge is being marked today in the village of Boljanić near Doboj. In this mission, more than 500 Allied pilots were rescued, 60 of them in this very village. It was the largest operation to rescue American soldiers behind enemy lines in 1944 and 1945.