Lt. Col. Milton Friend, USAF, back home in the U.S.A.
in 1944 after being rescued by the successful
Halyard Mission operation in Serbia.
Aleksandra's Note: I am so pleased to announce that 88 year old USAF Lt. Col. Milton A. Friend, one of the last remaining American survivors of the Halyard Mission Rescue operation of 1944, has safely returned to Serbia this week for the first time in 66 years. He arrived on Tuesday, October 26, 2010. In September of this year, he contacted me to express his desire to return to Serbia to participate in the legal proceedings involving the official "Rehabilitation of General Draza Mihailovich". Since then, his desire has become a reality, and he and his wife are currently maintaining a full schedule in Serbia. This visit was made possible by the efforts and assistance of a select group of people to whom I am most grateful: Srpski Liberalni Savet (SLS) and Mr. Aleksandar Nedic, Mr. Bane Jevtic, Mr. Miloslav Samardzic and Mr. Branko Petrovic.
WWW.GENERALMIHAILOVICH.COM will provide the highlights of Lt. Col. Friend's visit to Serbia in both the Serbian and English language.
Milton, I am so proud of you. When you first contacted me back in September about your desire to return to Serbia, at your own expense, to testify on behalf of General Mihailovich when the rehabilitation hearings continued, I thought it was a sweet, well-intentioned wish that would remain just that. The fact that you have had the motivation and courage to follow through with your intention, out of your deeply rooted desire to see justice finally done for the man who was responsible for saving your life and the lives of hundreds of others just like you in WWII, makes you a hero in my book. You are truly an inspiration, Milton. On behalf of myself and all of those Serbs who are no longer alive to see this incredible gesture of yours come to fruition, I say "Thank You", and "God Bless You".
Sincerely,
Aleksandra Rebic
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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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Wondeful news about USAF Lt. Col. Milton Friend.
ReplyDeleteHe has ALWAYS been a friend to the Serbian people, appearing here in Pittsburgh (Monroeville) for the showing a re-run of the movie THE CHETNIKS with his wife, Nick Lalich, and several other wonderful gentlemen who were also among the rescued airmen. God bless Milton Friend!!!
I will certainly pass this on to others to also see on Facebook, Linked-In.