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To: joan
Sorry if this is kind of long, but it tells the story.

The Serbian attack ended late in the afternoon about 4:30 PM. At that time I and a few other observers in the area drove into the area near Racak to ascertain what had happened. I in particular wanted to check on a house (outside Racak) that a tank had been shooting at where we had seen people running around. It turns out the house had been hit but the civilians inside were not hurt. We also went in Racak and at that time I found only one man with the top of his head shot off. We had been there a very short while when we were called on the radio to meet with the regional OSCE Commander, a Canadian General, in Stimlje, about a kilometer north. By this time it was getting dark. After talking with him he asked us to drive in and find the KLA and ask them not to do anything in reprisal. I drove in to find them while the others went back into Racak. By now it was totally dark.

The local KLA was located in Petrovo, about 5 km south. I drove in the dark towards them and was stopped about 4 km south of Stimlje by a squad sized group of agitated KLA hidden next to the road. After they verified our identity we continued south to Petrovo. There I found the KLA deputy public affairs spokesman for that area and a KLA military policeman (MP) that had previously been acting as a translator (he spoke excellent English). They had no idea what was going on and mostly seemed happy to still be alive. I gave them the OSCE Commander’s message and after talking for a few minutes drove back to Racak.

The only people we found in Racak were (if I remember correctly) two women, an old man, and a ten year old boy, all with gunshot wounds. One of the observers gave them first aid and we asked them where everyone was. They had been hiding all day and did not know. They said everyone had run away and SIGNIFICANTLY they told us the MUPs had rounded up a bunch of the men and taken them away. At that time we assumed they had been taken away to jail and our intent was to enquire the next day to the regional Police Commander in Urosevac as to their whereabouts. I then loaded the four civilians in my vehicle and we took them to the medical clinic in Stimlje for treatment. The Serbian doctor treated them but the were afraid to stay there because of a police presence in the hospital. I then took them to Pristina and left them at the city hospital. We took their names and later gave them to the people in Racak so they would know where they were.

The next morning at first light, about 0730, I went back to Petrovo. I told the KLA that I wanted to go into Racak. I also asked if they knew how many had been killed; they did not. After about 30-45 minutes we started hearing reports that something bad had happened and I took the KLA MP in my vehicle and we drove back to Racak. There we found a local civilian man and asked him to take us around to where any bodies were. We walked up a hill about a hundred meters outside Racak and found the 24 bodies in a ditch; first one, then a few meters further another, and another, and then at the end of the ditch a whole pile of dead men all shot in the head. We also found empty cardboard cartridge boxes to indicate someone had reloaded their weapons at the site. Down the hill we found a dead man who had appeared to be running away. Back in the town we found numerous other dead people including two brothers shot while trying to run away, a man whose head appeared to have been blown off by a grenade, and another man whose head had been skinned. I also was told of (I think) six KLA who had been killed. I told them I didn’t need to document these as they were legitimate combatants killed in action. I saw no evidence to indicate that any of these bodies had been moved prior to my arrival, other than a few who had been taken back into their houses.

We spent a couple of hours documenting the evidence and sometime around noon I was told that Ambassador Walker and the press would be arriving soon. The OSCE guys were off looking at something so I (KDOM) met him when he arrived in Racak and took him and the press around to view the evidence. I then later took him to Petrovo to meet the regional KLA Commander after which he left. I then went back to Kosovo Polje and got drunk.
97 posted on 11/13/2004 3:39:58 PM PST by Paratrooper_501
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To: Paratrooper_501
"We also went in Racak and at that time I found only one man with the top of his head shot off."

Why didn't you report this? What was his name?

100 posted on 11/13/2004 3:50:06 PM PST by joan
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To: Paratrooper_501
"The only people we found in Racak were (if I remember correctly) two women, an old man, and a ten year old boy, all with gunshot wounds."

Were they hit by crossfire? Were the wounds just grazes? Did any require surgery to remove bullets? What were their names?

The KLA was based near the power plant and had long trenches all around the city - this came out in the trial at the Hague. They were set to launch their attacks when the Serbian police arrived to arrest people for having killed policemen earlier.

102 posted on 11/13/2004 3:54:34 PM PST by joan
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