Posted on 10/17/2010 4:23:28 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Architect of Mission to Save Allied Airmen Trapped Behind Enemy Lines Awarded Bronze Star
A New York City man was honored Sunday for his role in a little-known chapter of World War II. The U.S. government awarded George Vujnovich the bronze star for orchestrating the daring rescue of hundreds of trapped American airmen.
"I feel we should have helped those men," says Vujnovich.
For a half-century he lived a humble life as salesman in blue collar Queens, New York. During World War II he was a 29-year-old officer for the Office of Strategic Services - the CIA of its day - training men for a top-secret rescue behind enemy lines.
"I feel great that I helped save them," says Vujnovich.
Called Operation Halyard, it was a massive airlift of more than 500 Allied pilots and crew.
"I was the operations officer, knew the circumstances over there, knew the country," says Vujnovich.
It was the summer of 1944, reports CBS News correspondent Sean Hennessey. Hundreds of Allied airmen, mostly Americans, were shot down in the hills of Yugoslavia. They were surrounded by Nazi troops. Vujnovich's wife, who worked for the Yugoslavian embassy, tipped her husband off about the secret location of the downed men.
"My wife wrote me a letter. 'See what you can do,'" says Vujnovich.
And so a bold mission was born. "We trained them in espionage as much as we could," says Vujnovich.
To get them out, he had to build a makeshift airfield for C-47s to make quick, daring rescue drops, an operation that went on for four months without being detected by the Germans.
He trained Serbian-speaking agents in Bari, Italy, who learned how to blend in with Yugoslav rebels hiding the Allied soldiers in farms.
"They nourished us. They hid us from the Germans. And some of them lost their lives," says Tony Orsini, a navigator during World War II.
Orsini spent five weeks protected by Serbian villagers before being airlifted home. In total, it took more than 40 flights to rescue 512 airmen. Orsini credits Vujnovich with saving his life.
Orsini still keeps the missing-in-action telegram given to his parents and the Serbian dagger given to him for protection.
Of Vujnovich, Orsini says, "He is the architect of the greatest rescue mission in World War II."
A 95-year old architect who's story is no longer a secret, but his award bittersweet.
"I'm sad because some of these men that we sent in are not here so they can share in this honor," says Vujnovich.
An honor, along with the thanks of grateful nation.
>Of Vujnovich, Orsini says, “He is the architect of the greatest rescue mission in World War II.”
*****
Kudos to Vujnovich. The Great Raid in Cabanutuan, Philippines (also made into a movie) was also considered the greatest rescue mission in WW2. Rescuing then carrying sick American POW’s using water buffaloes back from enemy lines wasn’t simple as it sounds.
Awesome story of American heroism and an American patriot.
Click “Halyard” in the keyword list and read some very interesting (and troubling) history.
Great story I had never heard before your posting! Thank you...
My sister and her husband were close FRiends of Sgt Bill Nellis who lead a platoon on that rescue. His son Chuck is a Friend of my son.
That’s a great feat he and the others did. Kudos to a wonderful American!
And a reminder that the Serbians were our allies while the Muslims have always been friendly with our enemies.
He should recieve the Medal Of Honor!
On a less celebratory note, but related vein non-judicial Article 15 proceedings have been initiated against (then) Pvt. Lester M. Olson, of Grundy Center, Iowa, related to a July, 1943 incident where Pvt. Olson was found shoplifting a six-pack of beer, shoe polish, and underwear from the Ft. Eustis PX.
The paperwork had been misplaced by his First Sergeant in a filing cabinet, and his unit was soon after called to overseas action and Mr. Olson assumed the matter had long been forgotten. “Remember, when you assume something, you make an ass out of you and me”, Mr. Olson chuckled, looking ruefully at the official Army copies mailed to his suburban home. He is required to report to Ft. McCoy, Wisconsin no later than November 26th. And he isn’t sure how to get there - he doesn’t drive
anymore, but his sister has volunteered to take him. But the DODs push for digitization of paper records has unit paymasters uncovering a veritable gold mine of potential revenue for cash strapped military organizations, and with interest charges accruing on the fines for some sixty seven years
Mr. Olson may well be shocked to discover his Social Security check garnished to the point of nothing. But, rules are rules and former servicemembers can expect more of the same as sums owed Uncle Sam are pursued vigorously, despite the passage of time.
I wonder if they'll come after me for the helmet I lost in Thailand 48 years ago. The interest would be enormous.
Thailand?
Not questioning your comments but the Article 15 you refer to is Article 15 of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). The UCMJ did not exist during WW2 but became law when signed by President Truman on 5 May 1950.
I’ll let Lester know... ;)
OK
Back in the 1970's and early 1980's, the US State Dept quashed every attempt to make The Halyard Mission public "for fear of offending Tito". Then when Tito died, it was "the country is fragile right now and the other ethnic minorities in Yugoslavia object to it". Then by the late 1980's, there were lobbyists for the other ethnic minorities (Croat, Muslims, Albanians) who had power and money to get this story buried, and by the 1990's, Serbs were "the enemy". Just think about how different things might have worked had ordinary Americans known about the Halyard Mission back in the 1980's before Serbs got demonized by the lobbyists!
And now here we are, one of those ethnic lobbyists who is most responsible for the 1999 Bombing of Yugoslavia and for demonizing the Serbs that saved 500 Americans, is the Republican nominee for Senate in NY, Joseph DioGuardi! But because I've wanted to see the Republicans take back Congress, I've been biting my lip. Yet, if we have to lose one, I pray to God that his is the Senate seat that is lost because DioGuardi's resume can best be summed up in this video. The SOB DioGuardi, knowing full well about the Halyard Mission and Serbs having saved 500 Americans, burned the Serbian flag at a rally for HIS Albanians -- even David Hackworth gave him hell about it at the time.
And DioGuardi is the best the Republican Party could produce as a Senate candidate from NY? He's a Muslim-loving, anti-American POS -- and I say that as an American, not a Serb!
....And DioGuardi is the best the Republican Party could produce as a Senate candidate from NY? ....
You can chalk that one up to the total lack of discernment of the Republican voters of New York, who voted for “the conservative in the race” and a “fiscally conservative accountant” without doing their research!!!!
Heck, compared to Barack Hussein obama, Pelosi, and Reid with their unprecedented levels of spending, nearly anyone (even many liberals) is a “fiscal conservative”! And I know plenty of accountants who are knee-jerk Democrats, who still support obama even though he has messed things up so totally!!! Voters need to look beyond the superficial and get at what’s really important in a public official.
There are other races in which our side showed lack of discernment, and voted in a crazy person as the Republican nominee, thus making things easy for even marginal Democrats who otherwise would have no chance of winning. But New York Republicans take the cake for voting in a total MONSTER!!!!
Of course, the media made it easy to pick DioGuardi, with their “Serbs are the villains and Albanians are the victims” lies. But Americans should know by now what were are facing from islam, both within our country and from without. And incidents such as this (see link below) show the true savage face of Kosovo Albanians, even to the present day:
http://serbianna.com/news/?p=6358
Hvala Bogu.....finally
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