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"Thank you Serbian Chetniks and Serbian villagers from the bottom of our hearts. We are forever indebted to you."Aleksandra's Note: The above photograph and tribute were posted by Teresa Guidry, daughter of Halyard Mission veteran Staff Sgt. Curtis "Bud" Diles, Jr. of the U.S.A.F. Curtis Diles was one of the "Forgotten 500" who was rescued by General Draza Mihailovich and his Chetniks in the later days of 1944. As a result of his being rescued and returning home safely to live out the rest of his beautiful life before passing on September 10, 2014, 70 years later, 27 people walk...

PRANJANI, Serbia -- The sky was black with the billowing smoke of the downed B-17 bombers and the canopies of Allied Airmen parachuting to an unknown fate behind Nazi lines in German-occupied Serbia. This is the sight the villagers of Pranjani remember from the late summer of 1944. Operation Halyard was an Office of Strategic Services mission to rescue more than 500 Allied Airmen who were scattered around a mountainous region in Serbia after their bombers were shot down by the Germans in WWII. It remains the largest rescue operation of American Airmen in history. The U.S. State Department, U.S....

Arthur Jibilian, 86, speaking at the "Forgotten 500 Reunion" 'Lest we Forget' Halyard Mission commemoration Michigan June 17, 2009 Photo by Aleksandra Rebic. Aleksandra's Note: This year, 2015, the world will be marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two, the era of the "Greatest Generation." For me, one of the measures of a man who dies is how deeply the loss is felt in the hearts of those who knew him, and if they didn't know him personally, were affected by his work or by his existence on this earth in a positive way. OSS radioman...

Aleksandra's Note: ...Lt. Col. Milton Friend of the USAF, a Halyard Mission veteran that I met in person in Chicago in 1994 for the 50th anniversary celebration of the Halyard Mission Rescue Operation, got in touch with me in 2009. I had wondered if he was still living. Indeed he was, and he had a story to tell. When I searched for him on the internet, I discovered that he was not featured anywhere that I could find. I told him that his story needs to be made public and be given wide exposure, and it is my absolute pleasure...

He never stopped. It became his mission in life. For 55 years, over half a century, Major Richard L. Felman of the United States Air Force worked ceaselessly to do one thing: to repay a debt of gratitude... As we in America just commemorated Veteran’s Day and are getting ready to celebrate our Thanksgiving, it is our turn to remember and say “Thank You” to a man that we who knew him will never forget. Writing these things is never easy, especially when you are trying to properly honor the life and work of someone you knew personally and liked...

Curtis Diles' yard in Ohio with 500 American flags honoring the Mihailovich Serbs of WWII. Photo courtesy of the Diles family, date unknown. Aleksandra's Note:American WWII Air Force veteran Curtis "Bud" Diles, one of the "Forgotten 500" of the great Halyard Mission rescue operation, turned 88 on July 15, 2013. He has lived a full, rich life, and to his great credit to this day he has never forgotten what was done for him almost 70 years ago, a lifetime ago, by strangers whose language and culture he did not share and in whose land he had become a "visitor"...

Curtis Diles (left), with a friend in Italy, 1945, returned to safety and survived the war after being rescued by the Mihailovich Serbs.There are those people in life that are born unto their destiny, that come into life to be something special. They choose not their path, nor do they accept it willingly, it just is for them, despite their not even seeking it. You cannot create these people; you cannot groom them for their destiny is contained within every cell of their being. They cannot be drawn into a comic book or cast into a made for TV movie...

Arthur Jibilian, 86, speaking at the "Forgotten 500 Reunion" 'Lest we Forget' commemoration, Michigan June 17, 2009 Photo by Aleksandra Rebic Back of photograph with personal message from General Mihailovich to Arthur Jibilian in 1944. "To Mr. 'Jibby' Jibilian, an ally and friend in these difficult days in the battle for freedom" American airmen and OSS personnel with General Mihailovich, standing in the center of the photo with his hand over his heart, 1944. Arthur Jibilian is kneeling in the front row in front of General Mihailovich and Captain Nick Lalich. Arthur Jibilian, standing far right, in Pranjani, Serbia, 2004....

***** Charles L. Davis Lieutenant Colonel United States Air Force Born June 8, 1919 in Staten Island, NY Died February 17, 2012 in Falls Church, VA Dates of Service: May 26, 1942 - June 8, 1979 On June 6, 1944 Charlie Davis was in a B-24 and the target was Brazok, Romania when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire. He parachuted out of the doomed B-24. Was missing in action in Nazi-occupied Serbia from June 6, 1944 until August of 1944. Was saved by the Serbs loyal to and under the command of General Draza Mihailovich.

Edward J. Derwinski Halyard Mission 50th anniversary 1994 Chicago, IL U.S.A. Photo by R. Rebic Aleksandra's Note: Americans and Serbs from all over the United States and Canada gathered together on May 31, 1994 in Chicago to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 'Halyard Mission' rescue operation and pay homage to the American veterans of World War II and the Serbs under the command of General Draza Mihailovich who had saved their lives. The 'Halyard Mission' was the name given to the greatest rescue of American and Allied lives from behind enemy lines in the history of warfare. It was...

Major Richard L. Felman U.S.A.F. May 29, 1921 - November 13, 1999 Major Richard Felman and Aleksandra Rebic General Mihailovich's 100th Birthday Celebration April 23, 1993 Chicago, IL U.S.A. He never stopped. It became his mission in life. For 55 years, over half a century, Major Richard L. Felman of the United States Air Force worked ceaselessly to do one thing: to repay a debt of gratitude and to say "Thank You" in a most meaningful way. As we in America just commemorated Veteran’s Day and are getting ready to celebrate our Thanksgiving, it is our turn to remember and...

Operation Halyard was managed by the U.S. Office of Strategic Services’ Nick Lalich (front row, third from left) and radio operator Arthur Jibilian (back row, second from left). For U.S. airmen trapped in Yugoslavia during World War II, building a secret airstrip was their only way out.On Clare Musgrove’s first mission over Ploesti, Romania, he and the crew of his U.S. Army Air Forces bomber were certain to be shot at. Romania supplied the oil the Nazi war machine desperately needed for its tanks, trucks, and aircraft. While the Germans vowed to protect the flow of oil from Romanian wells...

If it weren’t for 95-year-old George Vujnovich receiving his long-overdue Bronze Star last month — a full 66 years after he helped launch the incredible, yet thoroughly overlooked Halyard rescue mission in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia in the late summer of 1944 — then perhaps Paul Seery’s thoughts would be elsewhere this Veterans Day. Tom Connolly and his crew celebrate on Italian soil after being rescued from Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia in late December of 1944. Also pictured are OSS agents George Vujnovich and Nick Lalich.Instead, they are fixed firmly on the memory of his old friend and former coworker at Emerson and Cuming,...

Halyard Mission veterans Major Richard Felman and Lt. Col. Milton Friend of the USAF reunite at the 50th Anniversary celebration of the Halyard Mission in Chicago, IL U.S.A. May 1994. This celebration was included in the week long 50th Anniversary commemoration of D-Day. Photo by Aleksandra RebicAleksandra's Note: As the legal proceedings to historically "rehabilitate" General Draza Mihailovich and elevate him to his proper place and standing are set to resume in Belgrade, Serbia on October 29, 2010, I wanted to share a never before published photo of two great Halyard Mission veterans who reunited at the wonderful 50th anniversary...

BELGRADE, Serbia -- An American whose U.S. Air Force bomber was shot down over the Balkans during World War II is on a new mission in the region: Correct a historic injustice against a former Serb guerrilla leader. In the summer of 1944, Lt. Col. Milton Friend's B-24 Liberator was downed by German fighter planes over central Serbia. He said Gen. Draza Mihailovic saved his life - and those of 500 of his fellow airmen - in the largest air rescue of Americans behind enemy lines during a war. The former Air Force navigator, now 88 and living in Boynton...

Architect of Mission to Save Allied Airmen Trapped Behind Enemy Lines Awarded Bronze StarA 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 -...

<p>George Vujnovich at home in Jackson Heights, Queens. On Sunday, he is to receive a Bronze Star for his role in a daring rescue of more than 500 Allied forces airmen during World War II.</p> <p>For more than 50 years, George Vujnovich was a mild-mannered salesman working away at his small business in Queens and living a quiet life on a quiet block in Jackson Heights. He never spoke, even to his closest friends, about his secret role organizing one of the greatest rescue missions of World War II.</p>

Major George Vujnovich of the 1944 Halyard Mission revisits Pranjane, Serbia in September of 2004 Photo courtesy of OSS Radioman Arthur "Jibby" Jibilian FROM MR. NENAD MILINKOVIC: Dear Friends, Attached is the actual entry into the Congressional Record of the U.S. Congress submitted by Rep. Dan Burton (IN) this week on behalf of the award of THE BRONZE STAR MEDAL to Maj. George Vujnovich. Please feel free to share this wonderful news. Please also note that the formal medal award ceremony for George Vujnovich will take place at the parish hall of Saint Sava's Serbian Orthodox Cathedral in New...

Aleksandra's Note: I first met Major George Vujnovich, OSS Chief of the Halyard Mission, in Chicago in May of 1994, when the 50th Anniversary of Operation Halyard was being celebrated as part of the worldwide D-Day Commemorations. I remember being struck by what a lovely person he was. Such an important figure in Allied relations during a very critical time in 1944, yet such a humble and gentle soul he was. Thank you to those who began this initiative to officially recognize Major George Vujnovich with such a prestigious and well deserved award and kept it going for two years....

Richard L. Felman, U.S.A.F. Aleksandra's Note: The following testimony by Richard Felman of the United States Air Force, a decorated WWII veteran, was given while General Draza Mihailovich was still alive. Mihailovich had been captured by Tito's Yugoslav communist forces in March of 1946, and his trial in Belgrade began on June 10th of that year. On July 15th, after a sham trial, he was "convicted". On July 16th he appealed the verdict, and the appeal was rejected. On July 17th, 1946, General Mihailovich was executed by the communists in his beloved Belgrade. His murder had a galvanizing effect on...