MANY HEROIC DEEDS FROM DEFENSIVE-PATRIOTIC WAR REMAIN UNTOLD

TESLIĆ, NOVEMBER 8 /SRNA/ - The Republika Srpska Army /RSA/ defended the Serb state west of the Drina River, and many heroic deeds remain untold to this day, Borislav Đurđević, a wartime member of the RSA Main Staff, said in Teslić.

As an example of the commanders' bravery, he cited the decisions made by Generals Momir Talić and Boško Kelečević during Operation Corridor 92, under circumstances in which they had to further secure a border stretching more than 1,000 kilometres and outmanoeuvre an enemy who knew and anticipated their routes of movement.

Đurđević also cited the example of Nevesinje and the First Mitrovdan Battle in 1992, when the strategic skills of Colonels Novica Gušić and Zoran Purković came to the fore in stopping a force of 40,000 Croatian-Muslim troops.

He said that, thanks to the quality and training of the Serb command staff, Croatian forces were also defeated during the Second Mitrovdan Battle in 1994, as their plan to weaken the defending forces with 1,000 special forces troops deployed in sabotage groups, thereby paving the way for the capture of Nevesinje, was identified.

As an example of a hero of one of the stories that have not been adequately told, he cited Boro Bojić, a pre-war reserve officer who, despite being seriously wounded and with an IV drip in his arm, led his Fourth Battalion of the 43rd Prijedor Motorised Brigade in breaking through the spearhead of the Croatian Army's offensive during the decisive battle in 1995, thereby defending Banja Luka.

He said that while in Doboj, during the almost mythical battles fought in 1995 to defend the Vozuća and Ozren enclaves, he witnessed an emotional scene in which a group of wounded soldiers, after receiving brief treatment at the hospital, climbed back into trucks and returned to the front lines singing.

According to him, the contributions of military medical personnel have also not been adequately documented. He cited an analysis by Colonel Ratko Rokvić, according to which the mortality rate among wounded soldiers who received medical treatment was less than 10 per cent.

He stressed that the Serb people in this area were defended thanks to the heroism of the people themselves, the soldiers, units and commanders led by honourable officers, headed by General Ratko Mladić, whom he described as genuinely moral people and patriots.

Commenting on the differing views and distorted accounts of events during the Defensive-Patriotic War that continue to circulate in the public sphere, Đurđević stressed that many of the command decisions made at the time should not be condemned, but rather viewed in the context of the circumstances, including the fact that a state of war had not been declared, which resulted in numerous restrictions on the RSA Main Staff.

Đurđević stressed that Serb fighters were, in fact, the true heroes who stepped up to the challenge, stood up in defense, and created Republika Srpska.