Monday, May 24, 2010

Fudbalski Klub "Crvena Zvezda" / "Red Star" Soccer Club from Belgrade visits Mihailovich statue at St. Sava Monastery, Libertyville IL May 2010

Екипа Црвене звезде код споменика Дражи Михаиловићу
 у Чикагу
Serbia's "Red Star" Soccer Club
 at St. Sava Monastery, Libertyville IL May 2010


(Press) - Црвено-бели на Дражином споменику! Експедиција Фудбалског клуба „Црвена звезда", која се налази на турнеји у Чикагу, обишла је споменик генерала Драгољуба Драже Михаиловића, као и других четничких великана Момчила Ђујића и Павла Ђуришића.


Председник Владан Лукић, предводећи своје фудбалере и функционере, користи сваки слободан тренутак у паузи између тренинга и утакмица да обиђе велику српску колонију која живи у Чикагу и околини. Срби који су током ратова у 20. веку масовно емигрирали преко Атлантика највише су се насељавали око Чикага и, према незваничним информацијама, тренутно их тамо има више од 400.000. Већина њих се труди да, на што је могуће бољи начин, угости посетиоце из Београда и да им боравак учини што угоднијим.

Првотимци су дан после полуфиналне утакмице у којој су победили пољску Легију (1:0) заједно са руководством клуба обишли велелепни споменик команданта четника из Другог светског рата, генерала Драже Михаиловића. Они су затим обишли и споменике друге двојице истакнутих четничких вођа Момчила Ђујића и Павла Ђуришића.

Црвено-бели су посетили и манастир Светог Саве у Либертивилу, где су имали част да упознају митрополита Христофера. Митрополит је изразио захвалност клубу што је дошао у посету, наглашавајући да је српском народу с друге стране Атлантика увек част када им у госте дођу Срби из матице.

- Драго ми је да сте овде и да можете да се упознате са једним доста непознатим делом историје српског народа. На овом месту се писала историја и лепо је што је баш Црвена звезда овде као представник матице Србије. На овом месту је сахрањен краљ Петар Други и он је једини европски краљ сахрањен на тлу Јужне и Северне Америке, односно Аустралије - рекао је митрополит Христофер.

После манастира Светог Саве, обишли су и Нову Грачаницу, како наши исељеници популарно зову манастир Пресвете Богородице, који је такође смештен у Либертивилу. Црвено-беле је на вратима сачекао владика Лонгин и испричао им кратку историју настајања манастира.

Иначе, Црвена звезда је освојила међународни турнир у Чикагу, победивши Пари Сен Жерменом на пенале у финалу.


http://www.ravna-gora.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=215&Itemid=1


*****

If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com


*****




Saturday, May 22, 2010

Curtis Diles, U.S. Army Air Corps WWII Veteran saved by the Mihailovich Serbs, continues to carry the torch for Halyard


Aleksandra's Note: He is one of the very last of them still living. I had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with Curtis "Bud" Diles in Chicago, in May of 1994, when he came to participate in the 50th Anniversary Commemoration of the Halyard Mission Rescue Operation being celebrated that year as part of the D-Day Anniversary ceremonies being held throughout the United States. We became instant friends and have stayed in touch ever since. At 84, he continues to share his memories and gratitude for what the Serbs did for the Americans behind enemy lines in Yugoslavia in 1944. He has never forgotten General Mihailovich or his Chetnik forces and is convinced that he would not have returned alive to America and a long and happy post-war life had it not been for the Serbs. As with other rescued airmen I've had the privilege of becoming acquainted with over the years, I'm struck by how humble, stoic, and noble men such as Curtis Diles are. They truly exemplify everything that the American Armed Forces are supposed to be. My sincere gratitude goes out to Curtis "Bud" Diles for continuing to remain dedicated to spreading the word about General Mihailovich and the Halyard Mission through all these years. Thank You.

Sincerely,

Aleksandra Rebic


*****

Curtis Diles, U.S. Army Air Corps WWII veteran
at 84 in 2009

Curtis Diles, with a friend in Italy, 1945, returned to safety
and survived the war after being rescued
by the Mihailovich Serbs.


Curt Diles, B-24 Nose-gunner, Bailed Out Behind Enemy Lines

By G. Sam Piatt
Portsmouth Daily Times
May 18, 2010

Curtis “Bud” Diles would have graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1944, but he dropped out to go to work. He was working as an automotive machinist when, two months after his 18th birthday, which came July 15, 1943, the U.S. Army drafted him.

He chose the Army Air Corps. A year later, on Sept. 8, 1944, he was a nose-gunner on a B-24 Liberator, making strategic bombing missions over Europe out of southern Italy.

He would fly 35 such missions before the war ended, but on this day it seemed certain the war would end for him at hardly half that many. This particular mission, his 17th, involved the bombing of a German oil field, Ploesti.

The mission was accomplished, but at a terrible price. German anti-aircraft artillery and fighter planes were waiting for the lumbering bombers.

“We were like sitting ducks,” Diles said.

Many of the B-24 crews never finished the mission. They died when their planes crashed in the mountainous Balkans of Yugoslavia. Many parachuted into the unknown and some who survived became German POWs.

The 19-year-old Diles, his plane badly damaged by anti-aircraft fire, bailed out with his crew over Yugoslavia, behind enemy lines.

American intelligence had warned the bomber crews that if they were shot down over Yugoslavia, to avoid the Serbs, who reportedly were collaborating with the Germans.

Not true at all, says Diles.

“Guerrilla fighters with the Serbian Chetnik Resistance Army picked me up and saved my life,” he said. “They hid us from the Germans. I have supported the Serbians ever since. I subscribe to their newspaper. I have intense loyalty to them even today.”

One of Diles’ crew members, the radio operator, was captured by the Germans. Diles and the other six were rescued by local villagers and members of the Serbian Chetnik Resistance Army, led by Gen. Draza Mihailovich.

Back home at 3153 Walnut St. in Portsmouth, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Curtis Diles, wrung their hands in anxiety as a war department message told them only that their son was missing in action since a flight on Sept. 8.

The Serbs kept them hidden and fed them and, working with U.S. Intelligence forces, made arrangements that saw Diles and his crew members, along with other American fliers who had been shot down and rescued by the Serbs, picked up by an American C-47. They were back at their home base within 10 days after they were shot down.

“We walked from Belgrade to the makeshift airstrip where the plane would pick us up. It must have been 150 miles though woods and over hills. We slept in a hayloft of a barn that final night. The C-47 picked us up on Sept. 17, 1944, and brought us out of there,” Diles said.

He learned that it was not just his crew that Guerrilla fighters with the Serbian Chetnik Resistance Army had helped. First, they heard of 50 others, then they learned that there were hundreds of other American flyers who had bailed out of their crippled planes and were protected from the Germans by the Serbs.

The United States sent in OSS agents on a daring rescue mission known as Operation Halyard. What started as a 10-day mission lasted nearly six months and the C-47s, landing one by one on a runway built by the Americans and the Serbs, brought out nearly 500 downed American flyers.

“It was a covert operation. The Air Force had four or five men assigned to this shuttle service, flying from Italy to the airstrip in Serbia, picking up a load, and flying them back to Italy,” Diles said.

While the rescue was taking place, Diles said, the U.S. and Great Britain abandoned Mihailovich, accusing him of collaborating with the Germans. They began backing instead communist leader Gen. Josip Tito.

Diles said he and other rescued airmen felt the U.S. government didn’t give Mihailovich credit for helping them and relied on false information in turning against him.

The man who Time Magazine voted Man of the Year in 1941 was put on trial by Tito when the war ended, found guilty of being a traitor, and executed by firing squad.

According to Diles, hundreds of American airmen who had been rescued with Mihailovich’s help were angry and devastated over not being allowed to testify on his behalf.

“I have yet to hear a rational explanation as to why our government abandoned the Serbians or neglected to intervene in the trial of Mihailovich,” Diles said.

At any rate, once back at their home base in southern Italy, Diles and his crew were assigned another B-24 and were soon back helping to bomb Germany into submission.

“Up until that time, if you were shot down and survived, you went home, the entire crew, but I had to go back and fly some more,” he said, no doubt because the U.S. had lost so many bombers on these strategic bombing flights over Europe.

He made 18 more missions. He had a few shrapnel wounds but nothing serious enough to keep him out of action.

The Purple Heart is among the medals he won for his year in combat.

“A lot of men who received that medal died, and I didn’t really feel right about accepting it. But they said I had earned it, and I should take it,” he said.

He also was awarded the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters. The Air Medal is awarded to any person who, while serving in or with the U.S. Army, distinguishes himself by “meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.”

“I believe one cluster was awarded to the medal for each 10 missions flown, something like that,” Diles said.

Discharged in November 1945, Diles returned to Portsmouth to find a job and get on with his life. He married Inez Pruitt of Vanceburg, Ky., in 1948. They have lived in the Dayton area — Huber Heights — for the past 36 years. They have three daughters and a son, 15 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

An event taking place 10 years ago in the Dayton area brought to life again those 10 days Diles and his B-24 crew members spent in the mountains of Yugoslavia with the people who saved their lives, the Serbian Chetnik Guerrilla fighters.

His 12-year-old grandson, Adam Harlow, checked a book out of the school library for a class reading assignment at his junior high school.

The Time-Life book, written in 1978 by Ronald Bailey, had a photograph taken Sept. 17, 1944, by Life magazine photo journalist J.B. Allin, of five American flyers sleeping in a hayloft.

Harlow’s mother, Teresa, thumbing through the book, discovered the photo on page 188. Diles, then 19, was in the middle, and she recognized him immediately. She rushed to show Adam his grandfather, immortalized now in a 32-year-old Time-Life history book about World War II.

The Life magazine photographer had accompanied the C-47 that flew Diles and the others to safety, and learned from the Serbs of the American flyers hidden in the barn loft.

“That’s my grandpa!” Adam told his teachers and classmates, opening the book to the photograph.

Diles worked for more than 31 years as an automotive machinist with Wolford Machine Shop in Portsmouth. All the time he was trying to get a job at the steel mill in New Boston (first going by Cyclops, then Empire Detroit Steel), which was the best paying job around.

Finally, when he was past 50, he got on there.

“They never hired anybody past 40, but the federal government had a new law about age discrimination, and they could not refuse to hire me because of my age,” Diles said.

He worked there 18 months, until the mill, already on its downward spiral, closed its doors forever in 1980.

“We sold our Portsmouth house, moved to Dayton, and I started life all over at past 50,” Diles said.

“I have subscribed to the Portsmouth Times for more than 60 years,” he said. “I was a Times carrier in 1940-41. My route was in eastern Portsmouth and western New Boston.

“In 1968, my only son, Dennis Diles, had the same route for two years. He saved enough money from his carrier job and a part-time job with K-Mart in Huber Heights to pay his first year’s tuition at Wright State University, where he eventually graduated with a degree in chemistry and was employed by Cargill Corp. in Dayton. Today he’s with Cargill’s Minneapolis Division as a computer chemical engineer.”

Curtis Diles said he did get his PHS diploma after the war.

“I failed to graduate from Portsmouth because I had not taken a required history course. After the war I returned to PHS in order to make up the lost credits and get my diploma,” he said. “I was elated when the principal told me, ‘Diles, you MADE history, (so) I see no need for you to take any course in history.’ All I could say was ‘Thank you, sir!’”

Speaking in response to his interview by a Daily Times reporter for this story, he said, “Your prompting has caused me to review the past 65 years and I find I have had a full enjoyable life with one son, three daughters, 15 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, and still enjoy every day.

“My wife, Inez, and I are still maintaining our independent lifestyle with little help from anyone except for the love of our family and friends.”

He said his two years with the Army Air Force and the nine days he was in Serbia had a life-long effect on him.

“When our national leaders abandoned our ally, Serbia, it was devastating to see my life-saving friends abandoned to the Communist regime,” he said. “I still support my Serbian friends in any way I can.”




http://portsmouth-dailytimes.com/view/full_story/7457694/article-Curt-Diles--B-24--Nose-gunner--Bailed-Out-Behind-Enemy-Lines


*****

If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com


*****

Friday, May 21, 2010

Чотрић на Равној Гори May 9, 2010

Ravna Gora, Serbia May 9, 2010



Реп. асоц. за неговање тековина Равногорског покрета
May 13, 2010

Председник Републичке асоцијације за неговање тековина Равногорског покрета, народни посланик Александар Чотрић положио је ловоров венац на споменик генералу Драгољубу Дражи Михаиловићу 9. маја на Равној Гори. На ленти венца писало је: „Ваша борба, наше поштовање“!


У обраћању пред више од 20 хиљада окупљених грађана на Равној Гори Александар Чотрић је истакао:


- Помаже Бог! Окупили смо се на Равној Гори, на српском Олимпу, на којем је пре 69 година развијен барјак непокорсности и слободе да се захвалимо равногорским ветеранима што су први у Европи подигли организовани устанак против нацистичког окупатора.


Равногорци су својом борбом битно допринели победи над фашизмом, највећим злом двадесетог века. И као што су се они борили за слободу и демократију, тако се и ми данас боримо да Србија уђе у Европску унију. Они су победили пре 65 година, а ми ћемо данас победити. Да би Србија постала чланица ЕУ, потребно је, међутим, да се остваре циљеви за које се залажу Републичка асоцијација за неговање тековина Равногорског покрета и Српски покрете обнове:


Да се врати имовина одузета комунистичким декретима, да се врати имовина одузета општинама и градовима, да се Србија истински децентрализује и регионализује, да се донесе закон о отварању полицијских досијеа, да се омогући материјална надокнада рехабилитованим особама, да се почне исплата пензија Равногорцима, тако што ће се уклонити блокада која постоји пет година.


http://www.ravna-gora.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=214&Itemid=1


*****

If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

****

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Markovdan ("Mark's Day") on Ravna Gora May 8, 2010 / A Film Documentary of the Third Serbian Uprising Celebration in Serbia!

Aleksandra's Note: In the hearts of many Serbian patriots, May 8th is a pivotal day in the history of the Serbian people. It was on this day in 1941, known as "Mark's Day" ("Markovdan"), after the the Holy Apostle Evangelist Mark, one of Christ's disciples and author of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament, that General Draza Mihailovich reached the hills of Ravna Gora in Serbia to begin the Third Serbian Uprising. This uprising was against the occupying German forces of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. General Mihailovich and his Chetniks would be responsible for initiating and carrying out the first successful true resistance against the Nazis in all of occupied Europe.

Each year Serbs gather in the hills of Ravna Gora to mark this important anniversary and to celebrate the legacy of the Serbian freedom fighters whose motto was "Give me Liberty, or Give Me Death!"

I had the wonderful opportunity to be part of such a gathering in May of 2003 and will never forget it. If you have never attended this celebration and are planning to visit Serbia, please make it a priority to visit in May and to go up into these beautiful hills. You will be genuinely moved by the legacy that continues to be carried by the winds of Ravna Gora.

Below you will find a 10 part film tribute to this year's celebration, posted by "ravnogorskipokretsrb". My sincere thanks to you for sharing this film footage with us, especially those of us who could not be there. It brought back wonderful memories for me. My heart was there with you.

Sincerely,

Aleksandra Rebic

*****


From "ravnogorskipokretsrb" on May 10, 2010:

" — На Марковдан, дана 8 маја 2010-ог. лета Господњег. на Равној Гори, одржана је Прослава Трећег србског устанка (1941 -2010) у част и спомен на дан када је пуковник Драгољуб Дража Михаиловић,стигао на Равну Гору и подигао и прогласио почетак устанка,у циљу отпора окупатору и одбране од агресије и окупације поробљене нам Краљевине и отаџбине.Тог дана Равногорски покрет позвао је све добронамерне ходочаснике на Равну Гору, која из дана у дан прераста у прави Историјски национални парк, и да је само председништво Равногорског покрета на челу са Равногорског покрета Срђаном Срећковићем, данима апеловао на сву браћу и сестре ходочаснике Равне Горе, све који дођу на Равну Гору, да се максимално потруде, да са поштовањем према Равној Гори, уживају и понашају се у духу србског домаћинског опхођења према светињи,да сачувамо Равну Гору,њене природне лепоте и ресурсе, и да Равна Гора буде лепа и чиста, и као таква прихвати у своје окриље све добронамерне ходочаснике и посетиоце !


"Равногорски покрет и његови следбеници се опходе и са страхопоштовањем походе Равну Гору, сваке године,традиционално од 1990 лг. на дан Светог Апостола Марка Марковдан, 8 маја, тако и ове године,окупише се Братија Равногорци из свих обласних одбора,региона, и општинских одбора,да прославе и походе светињу Равне Горе и прославе Дан почетка трећег србског устанка, како доликује правом удружењу које на прави начин слави част и име живе Монархије и краљевског дома Карађорћевића и самог Равногорског покрета.Окупљање је отпочело дан раније 7 маја где је формиран камп и претходница за сам централни дан,окупише се тога дана братија Равногорци из свих општинских одбора Топола, Аранђеловац, Крагујевац, Кнић, Вождовац, Гроцка, Обреновац, Лазаревац, Земун, Чачак, Краљево, Горњи Милановац, Ивањица, Рековац, Јагодина, Ћуприја, Александровац, Трстеник, Параћин, Ћићевац, Нови Сад, Суботица, Црвенка, Врбас, Зрењанин, Банатско Карађорђево, Лесковац, Зубин Поток, Звечан - Косовска Митровица, Лепосавић, Ваљево, Љиг, Мионица, Лајковац, Шабац, Владимирци, Ариље, Бајина Башта, Смедеревска Паланка, Смедерево, Жабари, Пожаревац, Петровац на Млави, Књажевац, Сокобања, Бор, Зајечар, Неготин, Ниш, Прокупље, Блаце."

"Ravnogorskipokretsrb"

 
*****




Markovdan Ravna Gora May 8, 2010 Part 1 of 10


Posted by "ravnogorskipokretsrb" on YouTube




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e35udjBSACM



Markovdan Ravna Gora May 8, 2010 Part 2 of 10



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh-CVDb2vjE



Markovdan Ravna Gora May 8, 2010 Part 3 of 10



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnI4Hn31_8s



Markovdan Ravna Gora May 8, 2010 Part 4 of 10



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bO1HI3TUQI



Markovdan Ravna Gora May 8, 2010 Part 5 of 10



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unkl99-8bQc



Markovdan Ravna Gora May 8, 2010 Part 6 of 10



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWfdyH6MlrA



Markovdan Ravna Gora May 8, 2010 Part 7 of 10



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKV2GI5k0MQ



Markovdan Ravna Gora May 8, 2010 Part 8 of 10



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6zgIidMlV0



Markovdan Ravna Gora May 8, 2010 Part 9 of 10



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2yYUsXSbJo



Markovdan Ravna Gora May 8, 2010 Part 10 of 10



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcHCmL7RQXA



END

*****

If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

*****

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Двадесети сабор на Равној гори // Serbs gather on Ravna Gora May 2010



Јучерашњи традиционални сабор на Равној гори, двадесети заредом, имао је и додатну димензију, јер се поклопио са 65 година од победе савезничких снага над фашизмом. На имању СПО, што заправо јесте простор између цркве Светог Ђорђа, споменика генералу Дражи и Спомен дома, окупило се око 20.000 људи из свих крајева Србије, Републике Српске, Црне Горе, Словеније и дијаспоре. Када је око поднева стигао Вук Драшковић, настала је права еуфорија међу окупљеном масом.

Присутне су поздравили Урош Шуштерич, један од ретких преживелих равногораца из Дражиног штаба, и Александар Чотрић, члан Председништва и одборник СПО у Скупштини Србије и председник Републичке асоцијације за неговање тековина Равногорског покрета. Драшковић је окупљене најпре подсетио да је генерал Михаиловић баш на Равној гори са чијих се врхова може видети готово цела Србија, први у тада окупираној Европи покренуо устанак против фашистичког и нацистичког окупатора. Све до измака лета 1944. командовао је највећом антифашистичком герилом у Европи због чега је добио одликовања од Шарла де Гола и Харија Трумана. Овде смо се окупили, нагласио је Драшковић, да се поклонимо великом генералу, његовој војсци и непобитној историјској истини.


– Али, овде смо и због тога да бисмо још једном, затражили укидање срамне пресуде комунистичког суда у Београду којом је први антифашистички герилац у Европи, проглашен за фашисту и тако тајно погубљен да се и данас, шест и по деценија после смакнућа, крије његово тело. Катинску шуму, у којој су Стаљинови џелати тајно ликвидирали 20.000 пољских антифашиста, само због тога што су били и антикомунисти, Пољаци су прогласили за национално светилиште, а пољска војска ће, под знамењем убијених данас марширати на паради победе у Москви. А Србија и данас непоколебиво крије и брани комунистичке злочине у нашим Катинским шумама широм бивше Југославије. За Србију је и данас генерал Дража издајник, а не херој. Овде, са ове планине слободе, по хиљадити пут тражимо отварање тајних досијеа и коренито реформисање комунистичких служби смрти. То се мора учинити, ако већ говоримо да Србија иде ка Европи и да је комунизам пао у њој – рекао је Драшковић, уз истицање да генерала Михаиловића нису убили због тога што се борио против Немаца и усташа, него само зато што се борио и против комуниста и за демократско уређење наше државе. Драшковић је још додао да су неосноване информације о томе како су српски четници утамничени у хашком затвору. Категорично је устврдио да тамо нема ниједног четника и да је све који се налазе тамо васпитавала и обучавала идеологија злочинаца из Катинске шуме.


И јучерашњи јубиларни сабор на Равној гори, без обзира на сметње краћег пљуска, имао је контуре победничке параде. Овде су уместо жустрих корака одзвањале речи и поруке. Када је у питању осуда фашизма највећег зла 20. века и величање оних који су се борили на његовом сламању ни у чему није било разлике од сличних догађаја уприличених овим поводом широм Европе


сабор на Равној гори 2010




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6v1ag9o27I

http://www.spo.rs/action.php?objekat=Vesti&akcija=Procitaj&id=2563


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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

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Thursday, May 06, 2010

Dražine Lične Stvari u Vojnom Muzeju Maj 2010

Vesti Online
May 6, 2010
Tanjug


U Vojnom muzeju na Kalemegdanu u subotu, 8. maja biće otvorena jedinstvena izložba na kojoj će prvi put biti izloženi artefakti Ravnogorskog pokreta i lični predmeti njegovog vođe generala Dragoljuba Draže Mihailovića.

Draža Mihailović pokatuje britanskim oficirima nemačke položaje


Reč je o delu stalne muzejske postavke koja će biti otvorena u 18.30 časova nakon počasne artiljerijske paljbe sa beogradske tvrđave povodom Dana pobede, izjavio je danas predsednik Asocijacije za negovanje tekovina Ravnogorskog pokreta i narodni poslanik iz redova SPO, Aleksandar Čotrić.

Na izložbi će, zajedno, biti predstavljen partizanski i ravnogorski pokret i njihov doprinos oslobođenju zemlje, antifašističkoj borbi i velikoj pobedi saveznika u Drugom svetskom ratu, rekao je Čotrić.


On je naveo da će u Vojnom muzeju prvi put biti izloženi lični predmeti generala Mihailovića: karte, dvogledi, naočare, nalivpera, beležnice i sve što je imao kod sebe kada je zarobljen marta 1946.


Čotrić je podsetio da su lične stvari generala Mihailovića čuvane u depou OZNE, kasnije Službe državne bezbednosti (SDB), odnosno sadašnje Bezbedonosno-informativne agencije (BIA).


Draža Mihailović na suđenju

"Mislim da je neprimereno da se lični predmeti generala Mihailovića čuvaju u Bezbedonosno informativnoj agenciji i da im je mesto u muzejima", kazao je Čotrić.

On je naglasio da ga raduje što će se posle više od šest decenija i baš za Dan pobede, pred očima javnosti naći Dražine lične stvari zajedno sa istorijatom Ravnogoraca.


Izložba u Vojnom muzeju, kao i činjenica da je Ministarstvo kulture prihvatilo da učestvuje u obeležavanju godišnjice ustanka na Ravnoj Gori, pokazuju napredak u procesu rehabilitacije generala Mihailovića i Ravnogorskog pokreta, ukazao je Čotrić.


Prema njegovim rečima, na Ravnoj Gori će 9. maja biti obeležene tri godišnjice - Dan pobede u Drugom svetskom ratu, 65. godina ustanka protiv nacističkog okupatora i 20 godina od prvog Sabora Ravnogoraca.


Tim povodom, u spomen Domu, gde se nalazi i voštana figura generala Draže Mihailovića, prvi put će biti izložena imena 70.000 pripadnika Ravnogorskog pokreta "koja nisu smela da se pominju, pa čak ni da budu uklesana na nadgrobni spomenik", rekao je Čotrić.


On je najavio da će uskoro biti objavljen zbornik podataka sa imenima oko 200.000 Ravnogoraca sa podrucja cele bivše Jugoslavije, od kojih je gotovo polovina tokom rata izgubila život.


Ravnogorski sabor biće održan na Platou kod spomenika generalu Mihailoviću, a pored lidera SPO Vuka Draškovića, govoriće pripadnik slovenačkih ravnogorskih jedinica, kapetan Uroš Šuštarič.





http://www.vesti-online.com/Scena/Kultura/50926/Drazine-licne-stvari-u-Vojnom-muzeju


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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com


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Monday, May 03, 2010

Proud Serbs participate in ANZAC DAY 2010 in Australia / "Marš na Drinu" u centru Sidneja






Aleksandra's Note: ANZAC Day, marked every year in Australia and New Zealand on April 25th, is a special day indeed. Below you will find descriptions and explanations of the meaning and significance of this commemoration that honors war veterans. Each year Serbs are included, and they participate proudly, honoring their war veterans and their heritage of military service. My thanks to Mr. Dragoljub Brkljac in Australia, who last year first enlightened me about this special event.

Sincerely,

Aleksandra Rebic

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WHAT IS ANZAC DAY?

From:

http://www.anzacday.org.au/


"ANZAC was the name given to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps soldiers who landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey early on the morning of 25 April 1915 during the First World War (1914-1918).


"As a result, one day in the year has involved the whole of Australia in solemn ceremonies of remembrance, gratitude and national pride for all our men and women who have fought and died in all wars. That day is ANZAC Day -- 25 April.


"Every nation must, sooner or later, come for the first time to a supreme test of quality; and the result of that test will hearten or dishearten those who come afterwards. For the fledgling nation of Australia that first supreme test was at Gallipoli..."


_______________________

THE SPIRIT OF ANZAC


By Arthur Burke OAM

"The Spirit of ANZAC was suggested by official war historian C.E.W. Bean to have 'stood, and still stands, for reckless valour in a good cause, for enterprise, resourcefulness, fidelity, comradeship and endurance that will never own defeat.' The Spirit was epitomised in the deeds of Simpson with his donkey at Gallipoli - comradeship, courage and sacrifice: others before self. It also encompasses the laughter, the pride and the love of life that is in every Australian. To really understand this Spirit one must delve back into our country's past.


"Australia is a huge land. In the early days, settlements were scarce and far apart yet pioneers built our society's foundations in these fragmented tiny communities. The sun and the open land, the independence and the freedom of living under these conditions was a flame in the blood of our pioneers, a flame that burns whenever men are free, wherever there is a spirit which is willing to help those in need. If there were rumours of trouble, immediately someone would saddle a horse and ride off to see if they could help. Though on a comparatively smaller scale, our New Zealand neighbours in this antipodean part of the British Empire also emerged with a very similar culture.


"Conflicts were not unknown to this part of the world. The Eureka Stockade troubles of 1854 in Victoria, the shearers' strike of 1890 in Queensland and the subsequent eastern seaboard maritime strikes were but a few home grown examples. New Zealand's Maori wars in the early 1860s saw volunteers from the separate colonies of Australia assisting their Kiwi mates to establish independence in another developing country. Again in 1885 the colonies displayed passionate outrage and a willingness to avenge the brutal death of Britain's General Gordon at Khartoum, despite only a New South Wales contingent being accepted for service. And when the Boer War erupted in South Africa, volunteer units from the colonies competed for a place beside the Mother Country's warriors.


"Thus, although the disparate colonies of our great land did not federate till 1901, Australians and New Zealanders had been united since the beginnings of their countries and this unity, this love of life had formed the basis of the Spirit of ANZAC. 'The Mother Country's in a spot of bother again,' was a typical observation when the Great War began in 1914. 'Might as well help her get this sorted out,' was the accustomed response to someone in need. For a century the antipodean survivors had been helping overcome Nature's curses and supporting each other's causes. Now they were equally ready again to assist Britain, this time to overcome German militarism. This was the Spirit which imbued the volunteers as they dashed off with seemingly gay abandon to the First World War and what was to become the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.


"These bold, laughing soldiers were a new, unknown factor of a very old Empire. 'They seemed to be of one race, for all of them had something the same bearing, and something the same look of humorous, swift decision' described Poet Laureate John Masefield. But if the British thought they 'took a bit of getting used to', the enemy never got used to them. These 'colonials' fought as they lived - bravely, openly, independently, and without fear. They proved that their young countries could produce men equal to any in the world, perhaps the greatest fighting force this world has known - the ANZACs.


"On 25 April 1915 a new world was born. A new side of man's character was revealed. The Spirit of ANZAC was kindled. It flared with a previously unknown, almost superhuman strength. There was a determination, a zest, a drive which swept up from the beaches on Gallipoli Peninsula as the ANZACs thrust forward with their torch of freedom. As they fell, they threw those following the torch so their quest would maintain its momentum. That Torch of Freedom has continually been thrown from falling hands, has kindled in the catchers' souls a zeal and desire for both our individual liberty and our countries' liberty. That desire has been handed down with the memory and burns as brightly as the flame which first kindled it.


"But the Spirit of ANZAC is not confined to the battlefield. It lives in the schools, on the sports fields, in fact all over these great countries of Australia and New Zealand. The sun invades our bodies and makes us 'mad'; mad for freedom - freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom to live and think as you will. The Spirit of ANZAC is not something we can see but a powerful driving sensation that can only be felt. It is a feeling that burns in the heart of every Australian and New Zealand countryman. A warm, tender, fiery, even melancholy ideal that nurtures intense patriotism in the innermost soul of every body. Many foundation ANZACs died, but their glorious challenge to catch the thrown torch shouts loud and strong to all. Their goal was freedom for the land they loved.


"The Spirit of ANZAC is invincible. It is the flame that burns forevermore in the heart of every true Australian and New Zealander. Today we stand safe and free, clothed with all the privileges and rights of citizens in these great free countries. And all these things - liberty, security, opportunity, the privileges of citizenship - we owe to those men who fought, endured, suffered, and died for us and for their country. Their deeds and their sacrifices gave us the invincible, the intangible, the Spirit of ANZAC."


Retired Colonel Arthur Burke OAM is a member of the Executive Committee of the ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee of Queensland. He was inspired to write this article after reading a collection of essays written in 1961 by the students of St Margaret’s Anglican Girls’ School, Ascot, Brisbane following their attendance at the school's annual ANZAC Day service which included an an address on 'ANZAC and its significance, emphasising the "spirit" of ANZAC.' The article is an amalgam of ideas from several essays and the author's own thoughts.



http://www.anzacday.org.au/spirit/spirit2.html





"Marš na Drinu" u centru Sidneja
Vesti Online
S. Princip
April 27, 2010

 Australijanci su obeležili 95. po redu praznik nacionalnog ponosa - Anzak dan - prvi put bez generacije iz Prvog svetskog rata od koje je ovaj dan i potekao.


Poslednja stranica poglavlja o slavnoj australijskoj generaciji iz Velikog rata zatvorena je prošlog juna, smrću 110-godišnjeg Džeka Rosa iz Viktorije, poslednjeg od 416.000 vojnika iz tog vremena. Odsustvo najstarijih ratnih veterana obeleženo je konjem bez jahača u povorci u Sidneju.


Do sada, oko 1,8 miliona Australijanaca služilo je svojoj zemlji u vojnim kampanjama, a 102.000 njih stradalo je u sukobima. U nedelju, prvi ministar Kevin Rad objavio je da se Australija već priprema za 2015. godinu, kada će biti obeležena 100. godišnjica iskrcavanja na Galipolju.


Tradicionalno odavanje vojne počasti u zoru u Sidneju proteklo je u znaku obilne kiše. Padavine su popustile tokom prepodneva, taman na vreme za paradu oko 18.000 australijskih veterana i njihovih saveznika. Na čelu posebno dobro organizovane srpske kolone, marširao je predsednika Odbora za Anzak NSW dr Marko Marinković.



Interesovanje Kineza: Zanimljivo je da je jednu kinesku TV-ekipu
 zanimalo da od jednog od potomaka srpskih boraca,
 Dragoljuba Brkljača, čuju o Srbima i njihovom učešću u ratu.

Među učesnicima bila su i dvojica veterana, Simo Vukmirica i Đuro Kesić koje je rat i pripadništvo u četničkim jedinicama dovelo preko logora u Nemačkoj i Italiji sve do Australije.


Kesić je počeo da maršira pre tačno 60 godina i propustio je svega tri marša. Odbio je da se vozi u vojnom džipu i zajedno s Vukimiricom prešao s ostalima pešice ceo put. U srpskoj koloni bili su i prof dr Srđa Trifković koji je gost "Odbora za Anzak", kao i generalni konzul Srbije Aleksandar Besarabić i drugi.


Posebno obeležje u srpskoj povorci ovog puta dalo je prisustvo orkestra Stoleta Petrovskog. Zahvaljujući njima, kroz centar Sidneja odjekivali su zvuci "Marša na Drinu", "Marširala kralja Petra garda"...


http://www.vesti-online.com/Dijaspora/drzava/Australija/Vesti/48312/Mars-na-Drinu-u-centru-Sidneja






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Live: Serbs on Anzac Day 2010 in Australia April 25.
Posted on YouTube by "silverbullet1300"




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G0k19MwGP8

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Live on YouTube: Serbs on Anzac Day 2008 in Sydney, Australia
Posted by "MISTelevizija"



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZXF-71FZv0&feature=player_embedded



*****

If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

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