BLAGOJEVIĆ LAID A WREATH TO HONOR THE OPERATION HALYARD SERB HEROES

DOBOJ, JUNE 24 /SRNA/ - Close associate of the US president, Rod Blagojevich, laid a wreath today in Boljanić near Doboj in memory of the heroism and sacrifice of the members of the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland, who rescued Allied pilots during Operation Halyard 81 years ago.

A wreath was also laid by the envoy of the president of Republika Srpska, Boris Jerinić, who is also the Mayor of Doboj, along with a delegation from Srpska.

A delegation from the city of Doboj laid roses.

Present in Boljanić were also parliament member of the Republika Srpska National Assembly Danijel Jošić, the head of the SNSD caucus in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH Sanja Vulić, and Deputy Minister in the Council of Ministers Aleksandar Goganović.

Among those present was also the elder Vaskrsija Janković from Boljanić, who, as a child, preserved memories of that period and stories from contemporaries, co-authoring the monograph "Rescue of Allied Aviators".

In Operation Halyard – The Airlift, carried out by the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland under the command of General Dragoljub Draža Mihailović, more than 500 Allied pilots were rescued, including sixty in Boljanić alone.

The Airlift operation was the largest rescue mission of American soldiers behind enemy lines during 1944 and 1945.

Under pressure from partisan forces, the Supreme Command of the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland withdrew from Serbia to eastern Bosnia in mid-October 1944. Near the village of Boljanić on Mount Ozren, an airfield was made operational between October 22 and November 1, 1944.

In 2021, the President of the Halyard Foundation, John Cappello, posthumously awarded a decoration in Boljanić to Cvijetin Todić, commander of the Ozren Chetnik Brigade of the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland, for rescuing Allied pilots during this operation. The award was received by his grandson, Darko Despotović, who emphasized that Serb heroes must not be forgotten and stated that the Chetnik movement in the Ozren area had prevented genocide against Serbs during World War II.