OSTOJIĆ: NO GREATER SACRIFICE THAN GIVING ONE'S LIFE FOR ONE'S FELLOW MAN

PETROVO, OCTOBER 12 /SRNA/ - Minister of Labor and Veterans’ and Disability Protection Radan Ostojić said today in Petrovo that there was no greater sacrifice than giving one’s life for one’s fellow man, and that it was a sin to forget those who gave their lives in defense of their people and Republika Srpska.

"We would not be celebrating the patron saint's day of this municipality here today if it were not for these people, the bravest among us, who paid for freedom with their lives and whose names are engraved on this memorial," Ostojić told reporters in Petrovo, where a monument to fallen soldiers was consecrated on the occasion of the Municipal Day and patron saint's day, Miholjdan.

He stressed that the Serbs had paid an enormous price for freedom throughout history and pointed to the obligation to pray for peace at places such as this memorial, so that future generations could build freedom in other ways rather than with rifles in their hands.

President of the Veterans' Organization of Republika Srpska Milovan Gagić highlighted the heroism and suffering of the people of Ozren, saying he was pleased that Petrovo had also received a central memorial to those killed in the Defensive-Patriotic War.

"The monument is not the end, it is merely one part of what we must do to honor the memory of the soldiers," Gagić said.

Vera Cvijanović, the mother of fallen soldier Ljubiša, said she still carried the pain of her son’s death, even after 34 years.

"I was an educator, and I always taught children to be good people and to respect one another," Cvijanović said. She unveiled the central memorial today.

Priest Miloš Trišić, who consecrated the monument together with local clergy, called on those present to pay their respects every day to the fallen heroes and pray for their souls, saying that their love and sacrifice were largely responsible for the Serb people living in freedom today.

A central memorial to fallen members of the Army of Republika Srpska, members of the Republika Srpska Ministry of Interior, and civilian victims of war was unveiled and consecrated in Petrovo today on the occasion of the Municipal Day and patron saint's day, Miholjdan. More than 300 names of those who lost their lives are engraved on it.

Wreaths and roses were laid by the families of the fallen, as well as by Luka Andrić, the Prime Minister’s envoy, and ministers Radan Ostojić and Anđelka Kuzmić on behalf of the Government of Republika Srpska.

Wreaths were also laid by representatives of the Republika Srpska Veterans' Organization, the municipalities of Petrovo and Brod, the City of Doboj, the Petrovo Municipal Veterans’ Organization, and associations formed out of the Defensive-Patriotic War.

The memorial is located at Nemanjići Square in Petrovo, near the municipal Administrative Centre, and consists of several symbolic elements.

It features the imprint of a military boot, the silhouette of a soldier with a lowered rifle, a stone slab engraved with the names of those who died, stylized flowers of the native iva herb, and a motif from the traditional folk costume of the Ozren region.

Small crosses have been cut into a steel plate, beside which stand six weathering-steel columns symbolizing soldiers lined up for battle. The columns bear the symbols of the Municipality of Petrovo, the Army of Republika Srpska, and the Republika Srpska Ministry of Interior.

A total of BAM 133,906 was allocated from the municipal budget for the construction of the central memorial, which was designed by the Faculty of Architecture and Engineering in Banja Luka.