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Aleksandra's Note: The following is a terrific book review and commentary on George Sava's "The Chetniks" by Carl Savich, who captures the true spirit of what this story conveys. To all the old Chetniks, the true blue freedom fighters who continue to carry the Chetnik spirit in their hearts and have passed it along to their children and grandchildren who look upon them as real heroes, I extend best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving 2009. Those of us who came after you, and who have had the privilege to meet you and know you, will be forever grateful that you...

"Undercover" (1943)"Underground Guerrillas" (U.S. 1944)On July 27, 1943, Ealing Studios in Great Britain released the movie Undercover on the guerrilla resistance movement in Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. Undercover was re-released by Columbia Pictures on September 14, 1944 in the United States under the title Underground Guerrillas. The movie was originally entitled Chetnik and was to document the Yugoslav Chetnik resistance movement headed by Draza Mihailovich. Because the movie was released when British support for Mihailovich was waning, however, the film was re-edited and references to Mihailovich and the Chetniks were deleted. The movie is invaluable, nevertheless, as a cinematic account of the...

Two men who changed history never met, but they should have. They had an enormous impact on each other’s lives. They both were men of war. One would survive. The other would not. The following gives voice to General Draza Mihailovich, the one who did not survive, and what he might have said to the one who did, the great Statesman Winston Churchill, had he had the chance to do so. Dear Winston, During a critical period in the history of the world, our paths crossed in a fateful way, though we would never meet. I would die first, without...

General Draza Mihailovich in the hills of Serbia WW II Photo of Major Richard Felman, U.S.A.F. (Ret.) by Mari Shaefer. Richard L. Felman stands before a Douglas C-47 Sky Train, a plane similar to the C-47 transports used to evacuate 500 U.S. fliers from Yugoslavia during World War II. The photo was taken at Pima Air Museum in Tucson, Arizona. To the group of stranded American airmen he rescued during World War II, the Serbian guerrilla leader who once graced the cover of Time Magazine deserves a monument on federal land in Washington, D.C. To others, including Croatian-Americans, he’s a...

He clasps the crag with crooked hands . . . he watches from his mountain walls, and like a thunderbolt he falls. These words, written of an eagle, today are a far better fit for one of the most amazing commanders of World War II. He is Yugoslavia's Draja Mihailovich. Ever since Adolf Hitler vaingloriously announced a year ago that he had conquered Yugoslavia, Draja Mihailovich and his 150,000 guerrillas in the mountains south-west of Belgrade have flung the lie in Hitler's teeth. It has been probably the greatest guerrilla operation in history...

On January 11, 1943, during the height of World War II, Twentieth Century Fox released the movie Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas on the guerrilla movement headed by Draza Mihailovich in German-occupied Yugoslavia. The movie starred Philip Dorn as Draza Mihailovich and Anna Sten as his wife. The movie was the Hollywood chronicle of the Chetnik resistance movement. Draza Mihailovich launched a resistance movement against the Nazi occupation forces of Yugoslavia in 1941. This was unprecedented and created a sensation in Europe and in America. In America, Draza Mihailovich became one of the most popular figures in the news. In the...

Note: As America celebrates Veteran's Day this November of 2007 when things are so volatile in the world, it's good to hear from the veterans themselves about what remains most memorable about their service in the United States Military. WORLD WAR TWO VETERAN MAJOR RICHARD L. FELMAN OF THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE IS A FEATURED SPEAKER AT THE HALYARD MISSION 50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION IN CHICAGO, IL. May 31, 1994 Before I say a single word, I must first express my everlasting gratitude to the City of Chicago and the Department of Defense today, for honoring the Halyard Mission. Until...

A MONUMENT TO A GIANT FROM SERBIAN HISTORY Voyvoda Momchilo R. Djujich is immortalized on the grounds of St. Sava Monastery in Libertyville, Illinois Voyvoda Momchilo R. Djujich is now there permanently, beside his commander General Draza Mihailovich, along with Voyvoda Pavle Djurisic, all facing east toward the far away Serbian lands where their legacies were forged over 60 years ago in the battles that proved their measure as men. All three were leaders of a cause that remains alive in the hearts of those who came to pay tribute on May 20, 2007 at the St. Sava Monastery in...

by Sandy Marquette Tribute to Major Richard L. Felman Goodbye To a Tireless Warrior Major Richard L. Felman (U.S.A.F., ret.) May 29, 1921 - November 13, 1999 He never stopped. It became his mission in life. For 55 years, over half of this 20th Century, Major Richard L. Felman of the United States Air Force worked ceaselessly to do one thing. To repay a debt of gratitude. To say Thank You. As we in America celebrate our Thanksgiving, it is our turn to say Thank You to a man that we who knew him will never forget. Writing these things...

Several anti-Semitic graffiti, including one saying "Holocaust is a Jewish Lie," appeared Thursday on the walls of a World War II Nazi death camp in central Serbia. Jasna Ciric, the head of the Jewish community in Nis, said the graffiti was apparently timed to coincide with the 64th anniversary of the massacre of some 1,100 Jews, Serbs and Gypsies in the camp. "It's unbelievable that such messages are still alive in the 21st century," Ciric said, adding that about 12,000 people were killed by Nazis in the Bubanj concentration camp during World War II. The other paint-written graffiti included: "Serbia...

BELGRADE, ZAGREB -- Friday – Serbia has put veterans of the WWII Chetnik royalist army on the same footing as those of the Communist Partisan movement with new legislation passed this week. Chetniks are now entitled to the same pension and as Partisans under the new Veterans’ Rights Act. The new law also covers military and family disability payments. The rights now enjoyed by the Chetnik veterans were awarded to the followers of former President-for Life Josip “Tito” Broz at the end of the war. The amendments cover fighters who joined the Chetniks between April 1941 and May 1945 and...