MEMORIAL PLAQUE UNVEILED IN GRATITUDE TO STAFF OF FORMER WARTIME HOSPITAL

MILIĆI, OCTOBER 17 /SRNA/ - A memorial plaque was unveiled at the entrance to the Milići Health Center, housed in the former wartime hospital, in gratitude and lasting remembrance of all those who treated patients, provided assistance, and saved lives in the municipality during the Defensive-Patriotic War.

The plaque was officially unveiled today by former staff members of the wartime hospital: retired anesthesiologist Tode Dragičević, surgeon Lazar Prodanović, retired X-ray technician Niko Jović, and gynecologist Slobodan Đerić.

The plaque, above whose inscription an emblem bearing the words "Hospital of St. Nicholas, Milići, 1992" is also engraved, carries the message: "MILIĆI WARTIME HOSPITAL 1992–1995, in gratitude and lasting remembrance of all those who treated patients, provided assistance, and saved lives."

The unveiling of the memorial plaque was preceded by a minute of silence in honor of all those who lost their lives. The ceremony was attended by former wartime hospital staff, Milići Mayor Marko Savić, and Ljiljana Živković, head nurse at the Health Center, who organized the event.

It was emphasized that this was an important step toward permanently preserving the truth about the humanity and heroism of those who saved thousands of lives under impossible conditions.

The wartime hospital in Milići operated without interruption, with staff on duty 24 hours a day and no annual leave.

It was emphasized that alongside the highly skilled specialists and medical staff who bore the greatest burden of diagnosis and surgical procedures, non-medical staff deserved equal recognition, including cleaners, cooks, drivers and technical workers, whose wholehearted dedication made it possible for the hospital to operate.

Anesthesiologist Tode Dragičević, one of the doctors who unveiled the memorial plaque, told reporters that meeting his colleagues after more than three decades stirred deep emotions and memories of difficult and extraordinary moments.

"This is a very important moment for me - on the one hand, an opportunity to pay tribute to the people who worked here and who, sadly, are no longer with us, and on the other, a chance for those of us who are still alive to reunite," Dragičević said.

Milići Mayor Marko Savić emphasized that the work of the wartime hospital was one of the brightest chapters of the Defensive-Patriotic War and that the sole motivation of all its staff was humanitarian and patriotic in nature.

"After filmmaker Ljubiša Milutinović made the documentary Wartime Hospital in Milići, which also premiered on television, we decided to organize a gathering every year. This year, we also symbolically unveiled a memorial plaque to ensure that the period from 1992 to 1995 is permanently commemorated," Savić said.

He stressed that forgetting was our greatest enemy and expressed his gratitude, both personally and on behalf of the municipality, to all healthcare workers and non-medical staff - cleaners, cooks, drivers, and technical staff - who together bore an enormous burden and saved an incalculable number of lives.

The documentary Wartime Hospital in Milići, by Ljubiša Milutinović, remains a lasting tribute, through authentic testimonies and historical records, to the dedication and heroism of the medical and non-medical staff during the most difficult times for the Serb people.

The building that once housed the wartime hospital now accommodates a specialized hospital for surgical conditions and a Health Center.