Nikola Tesla, the son of a Serbian Orthodox priest was a pioneer of the
radio, inventor of alternating current that made possible the generation and
transmission of electricity at Niagara Falls--one of the major factors of
the industrial revolution in America. Tesla's patent 100 years ago on
radio-guided robots made possible our space exploration and the success of
the current robot on Mars. He also invented the fluorescent light bulb. He
electrically lit the first Broadway show at The Wintergarden Theatre.
Considered a less-educated Serb, Tesla is certainly among the foremost
contributors to 20th century scientific progress.
Numerous other Serbs have made their contributions:
Mihajlo Pupin, author, physicist, inventor, Pulitzer recipient--a building
at Columbia University is named in his honor.
Mileva Maric, the mother of Einstein's children and a mathematician now
being credited for her influence in Einstein's important work. (See Andrea
Gabor, Einstein's Wife, NY, 1995, p. XII and pp.3-32)
A building at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs is named for
Lance Sijan, A Serb--for his bravery in Vietnam. He was the first Air Force
graduate to receive the Medal of Honor. The book, "Into the Mouth of the
Cat" was written about this brave American-Serb who shared a prison with
senator John McCain of Arizona, the same senator who refuses to acknowledge
the sacrifices of the Serbian people in WWII and who remained silent when a
Serbian Church in his home state was desecrated with swastikas and filthy
Croatian words on August 9, 1996.
As early as 1905, a young Serbian American from the south side of Chicago,
Rade Grba, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by the United States
for his heroic actions in the Navy. There are 8 Serbian Congressional Medal
of Honor recipients. The first person in US history to receive 2
congressional medals was Lou Cukelja--he also received thehighest
decorations given by France, Belgium and Serbia.
There are hundreds of Serbian Purple Heart recipients. Serbian-Americans can
be proud of the youngest Two-Star general in the American army, Rudy
Osotvich, III and Two-star General, Mel Vojvodich. Ed Radkovich headed Air
Force Intelligence in Europe and Brigadier General George Karamarkovic the
US Marine Corp. The US Military also includes Admiral Stevan Mandaric and
Col Mitchell Page, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient--Admiral Milton
Alexich of the Navy. Vern Pupich was the test pilot of the DC3 before WWII.
Velco Gasic designed the T38, the first sophisticated trainer aircraft and
the F5. He was responsible for the B-2 and was an executive vice president
of Northrop.
Two Serbian Americans received a Pulitzer prize. Walter Bogdanich, born and
raised in Gary, Indiana, won his Pulitzer prize in journalism at the Wall
Street Journal in 1988 for his series of articles on medical fraud in
laboratory practices and Kim Komenich won his Pulitzer for photography in
1987. Dr. Charles Simic, Belgrade-born professor of English at the
University of New Hampshire, won his Pulitzer for poetry in 1990.
Ivo Andric is the only Serbian and only person from the former state of
"Yugoslavia" to receive the Nobel prize, which was awarded for his book
"Bridge Over the River Drina."
Descendant of Catherine the Great of Russia, Princess Elizabeth
Karadjordjevic, the daughter of Prince Paul, Regent of Yugoslavia, heads the
princess Elizabeth Foundation in NY . Her daughter, Catherine Oxenberg, is
widely known for her work in American television.
The Honorable Branko Terzic was Federal Energy Regulatory commissioner,
appointed by President George Bush.
Mladen Sekulovic known to the world as Karl Malden, is the recipient of the
Academy Award (Oscar) for his performance in "A Streetcar Named Desire" and
an Emmy for his role in "Fatal Vision." He was the president of the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1989 - 1992. Lolita Davidovich,
Peter Bogdanovich, and Rick Rossovich add their talents to the American
cinema. Screen writer Steve Tesich was an Academy Award recipient and John
Vivian received fame as TV's 'Mr. Lucky', Natalija Nogulich won our hearts
on Broadway with Jason Robards in 'The Iceman Cometh'--Ms. Nogulich is also
known for her appearances in numerous television plays and films. Mark
Malkovich, III, known bymusic lovers as the director of the prestigious
NewportMusic Festival, is also known by hockey lovers as the founder of the
American/Canadian National Hockey League.
In the field of medicine, Dr. Ninoslav Radovanovic is recognized as one of
the world's leading cardiovascular Surgeons.
Rose Ann Vuich was the first female ever elected to the State Senate in
California in 1973. Having broken the gender barrier, a freeway in
California was named in her honor.
Desa Mamula was the first Serbian female attorney in the United States in
the 1940's. Helen Delich Bentley served 10 years in Congress, representing
the state of Maryland. Ralph Vinovic was the chief of staff for the
respected late Senator Dirksen. Today, John Vinich is the senator for
Wyoming and Rod Blagojevich a Congressman from Illinois. In the US Federal
District Court, in Chicago there is Judge George Marovich, and in the 2nd
Judicial District Court in Nevada, there is Steve Kosach. George Zenovich is
a Superior Court judge in California and George Chanak was a Supreme Court
judge for the state of Minnesota.
William Jovanovich, the single most famous name in American publishing
became president and CEO of Harcourt Brace and Jovanovich, one of America's
most prominent publishing firms.
William Salatich became the president of Gillette Corp.
George Perunici was the former chairman of American Express.
Michael Bozich was the former head of the merchandising group as Sears.
Alex Machaskee is the publisher of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Milan Puskar is president of Milan Labs, one of America's leading
pharmaceutical firms.
George B. Cavic is VP of Parke-Davis and Milan Panic is president and CEO of
ICN pharmaceuticals, became the prime minister of former Yugoslavia and
heads a multi-million dollar pharmaceutical company with divisions in 5
countries.
Dr. Alex Dragnich is the recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Award for
Distinguished Service to Vanderbilt University. He is the author of a dozen
books on Yugoslav history and politics.
Other Serbs who achieved prominence in Academia include:
Dr. Milorad Drachkovitch, Dr. Bogdan Maglich, Molecular Biologist was on the
team of four who discovered the Omega Mezon. Dr. Vasa Mihailovich, Dr.
Andrej Simic, Professor of Anthropology, USC, Dr. George V. Tomasevich,
Emeritus Professor of Anthropology-SUNY College), Dr. Stella Yaksich, Dr.
Stephen Stepanchev, (Emeritus Professor English Literature, Purdue and
Queens College), Dr. Dimitrije Djordjevich, Emeritus Professor History-UC,
Santa Barbara, Dr. Radmila Gorup, Professor of Lingusistic-Columbia
University, Dr. Sava Bosnitch, Professor of Political Science-University New
Brunswick, Dr. Svetozar Stojanovic, University of Buffalo, Dr. Srdja
Trifkovic, Professor of History, Rose Hill College, Dr. Zarko Bilbija,
Emeritus Professor, Universities of Chicago and Florida, Dr. Michael
Mennard, US Foreign Service-retired, Ph.D. History, Georgetown University,
Dr. Nenad M. Kostic, Iowa State University Research in DNA, Dr. Michael
Petrovich, Dr. Wayne Vucinich, Emeritus Professor of History-Stanford, and
Dr. Milos Velimirovic, Emeritus Professor of Music, Harvard and University
of VA. Dr. Henry Suzzalo was born in Herzegovina and was the President of
the Carnegie Foundation on the Advancement of Teaching. Dr. Dimitri
Dimitrijevic was recognized for his major innovations as a psychiatrist and
administrator in the treatment of mental illness in Illinois
In sports, Bora Milutinovich was the coach of the US Soccer team in the 1994
World Cup playoffs. George Glamack waoneer in p In football, Serbs play a
major roll with such great athletes as Jim Nadich, Norm Bulaich, Pete
Stojanovich, Ed Obradovich, Lazo 'Larry' Visnic, Jim Obradovich, Mike Mamula
of the Philadelphia Eagles and Pete Lazetich. Sam Jankovich, the former
general manager of the N.E. Patriots, was the athletic director at the
University of Miami during the Hurricanes' national championship.
In baseball there are such Serbian greats as Pete Vuckovich, the 1982 Cy
Young Award winner. David Rajsich wears a world series ring earned pitching
for the NY Yankees. Eli Grba, Nick Strincevich, Walt Dropo, John Vukovich,
and Paul Popovich were outstanding in the field. Even in car racing, we
remember Bill Vukovich, two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500--who was
fondly known as the "Mad Russian", even though he was a Serb. Vel Miletich
designed the cars for the Parnelli Jones racing team.
But keep on defending your brave SS Dshihad Mudshahdein warriors.
Karadjordje
Nedaj se. Thanks for the loads of info. I got to talk to Col. Felman about a week before he died. Even in his last dying days, actually gasping for the breaths to answer me, he was still trying to get the truth out about our beloved Draza and the Serbian people. This guy NEVER let up. Never. Threads like this need to be posted and Bumped always.