MIHAILOVICH

AND I
Richard L. Felman,
l'ofajor, U.S.A.F., Retired
Y CnOMEH 'BEHEPAJIA ,l(PA)KE
INTRODUCTION
This i. an eyewitneu. story. While
.' r important historical Significance, It II also. simple story. Its
IS rt.nee lies in the betrayal o(World War Two's greatest unsung

rnan that Hiltory will record as being responsible for the

ero, . k d bas
n, point in the greatest destructive war man In ever
turm . ' r 1
known. lu simplicity lies In the asSOCiation 0 an Inconsequentl.
oldier with this man of history and of his attempt to repay a long
:utstandinl. but nevcr-to-bc repaid debt.
On April6th. 1941 the savage hordes of the Nazijuggemaut in-
vaded YUIOII.via. Its beloved Xing. Peter the Sccond, was smuggled
out orlhe country in black of night and set up an exile lovemment in
London. Its poorly equipped army could do vcry liule apinst the
aU.hty Wehrmacht Panzer divisions. Within a matter of days the
Beast of Berlin added another country to his infamous list. Another
country, perhaps, but not another people; for remaining behind was
Peter', Minister of War and Commander In Chief, General Draza
Mibailovich. Mihailovich quickly assembled his make-shift,
a1inphot army and retreated to the hills. The fint and by far most
effective luerilla leader of World War Two had begun operations. In
no time, reports coming out of Yugoslavia related of his many heroic
raids on German garrisons, acts of harassment, sabotage, etc. Ever
tinee September 1939 when Hitler overran Poland no country or
people had been .ble to offer .nything more than token resistance to
the onrushing Nazi steamroller. Suddenly, the Allied world had
reason to hope and to question the invincibility of this indestructible
force. Here was the Twentieth Century version of David and Goliath.
New.papersscreamed headlines of Mihailovich and his brave band
of Chelnib. Hollywood produced motion picture of their
coura,eous guerilla activities . TIME Mag.zine ran a cover story on
Draza Mihailovich on May 25, 1942. Even kids switched from
and Indians" to playing "Chetniks". Everywhere, freedom
IOVlna people sana out his name hopefully, with renewed strength, in
a d.rkened world.
. On July 17th, 1946 a beaten, tired Mihailovich .tood before afi-
fln,squad of the Federated People" Republic of Yugoslavia and was
executed as a "war coll.borator'".
H
IS grateful fOllowers of the war years were shocked. New,-
COmmentators and historians were just as vociferous in their
revulsion u they h d L.__
th h a In his ,upport. Indignant people
d out the freedom-loving world were uking: "'What happened
unng the interve . , I .
plla
mng yean. 'thi. the same man who fought so
ntly for our d
cause.n gave us our fint r.y of Hope?'" To add to
4
their confusion, top German staff officers admitted that Mihailovich
had caused so much embarrassing harassment the invincible Nazi
machine that Hitler transferred 4 Panzer divisions from the Russian
front to wipe him out at all costs. These s,me divisions. they claimed,
spelled the difference in the balance of power on the Russian front
and changed the tide of the war. Could this be his reward? What
weird and diStorted mechanisms of international intrigue permit a
tragedy of this nature?
While 1 lay no claim to being a muter of global politics, I do
have the right to speak out the truth u 1 saw it and lived it. As an
average American citizen I consider myself most fortunate in having
been so closely related to this most important part of history and to
the man responsible fO.r it. Little did I realize when I saw the movie
"The Chctniu" in 1943 that the real life hero portrayed in the film
would be saving my life one year later, or that his Commander-ln-
Chief, King Peter, would personally decorate me with the Royal
Order of Ravna Gora, Yugoslavia's highest military decoration.
,
PART ONE
I enl isted in the Army Air Corps as an Aviation Cadet on July
24 1942. On February 4, 1944 I won my wings and 2nd Lt.
After an all-too-brief leave at home in which to show off
my new adornments, l picked my ten ,:an crew at
Mass. and a shiny new 8-24 Liberator Bomber at Mitchell Field,
N.Y. At Morrison Field. Fla., we received our sealed secret orders to
be opened after takeoff. Once outside the three mile limit we
nervously tore them open: "Assignment - 98th Bombardment Group,
15th Air Force, Italy,'" via the South Atlantic route. Except for
landing with minimum fuel at Trinidad, a lost engine over the
Brazilian jungles and strong headwinds over the Atlantic, the trip
proved uneventful. First stop on the Dark Continent was Dakar.
Then Marrakesch, Tunisia, and finally Leece, Italy. Anxiety for
action was written all over our faces as we smartly reported for duty
to our new Squadron Commander. His "good-to-see-ya, fellas"
welcome was quite a change from the sluffy, dignified air of our
previous Stateside commanders. This was the combat zone. This was
what we had trained for and hoped for the past year. Howsooncould
we get a crack. al those sons-of bitches11t didn't take long before our
visions of combat, glory and medals were somewhat dampened. That
evening we sat around for a bull session with some of the old
experienced crews. They had lost 3 of their crews that day and 2 the
day before. The previous two months there had been a 60% turnover
of crews due to losses. The neighboring "'Fighting 4OOth" had been
completely wiped out. This was all Dinah Shore's fault. I thought. j
had heard her sing "He Wears a Pair of Silver Wings" and
immediately rushed down to 39 Whitehall Street to enlist in the Air
Corps. But this was not the place to be thinking of what a great
supply officer I would have made at Ft. Dix. N.J . We had a duty to
fulfill and a proud organizational tradition to uphold. Our group
commander, Colonel "Killer'" Kane had previously been awarded the
Congressional Medal of Honor for his daring work. We were with
best . The crew's four officers were quartered in one tent (pilot, co-
navigator and bombardier). We had out own "natural-Italian"
dIrt floor, open sides and an overhead sprinkler system that worked
automatically whenever it rained. Furnishings consisted of 4 cots, 4
footlockers and one 25 watt bulb. (Light bulbs were at a premium. As
SOon as a crew was shot down, the returning crews would head for the
dOwned crew' t . d . .
b
sent Imme lately after landmg and confiscate their
ulb.)
Meager as our accomodations were they were vastly better than
OUr front Ii . r . .
ne m antryman sleepmg m mud for weeks and months on
,
end. In addition. we were fortunate in having our own valet. For a
buck a week per man. Romano. an II year old from the neighboring
village. took care of all our chores. He would continuously sweep the
tent. wash all our laundry and protect our few valuables. The only
time he would leave our tent was to tee us off at our pre-dawn
takeoffs. and then he would wait faithfully at the flight line till we
returned. Regardless of how tough the mission was. the most
welcome sight in the world was the grinning ear-to-ear reception we
always got. His clothes were ragged and tom. he reeked with garlic,
but he was beautiful. Soon as Ken my bombardier dropped his
bombs he would invariably announce over interphone "'Let's get the
hell out of here. We can't keep Romano waiting. "
After a brief orientation flight of local terrain. our crew flew its
first combat mission. After that they came fast and furious.
Roumania, Germany, Yugoslavia. Northern haly, Southern France,
Austria and Hungary. Twenty-three missions in slightly over one
month. By this time we were combat hardened Vets, and considered
ourselves fortunate in having all three major faiths represented on
the crew. At least one of them was watching over us. We had our
share of fighter attacks. engine fires, emergency landings, etc., but
came through miraculously unscratched. Even our ship "Never a
Dull Moment'" held up magnificently. After every mission we would
jump out and count flak (anti-aircraft) holes. Our mission to Munich
earned us the coveted squadron record. We counted two hundred
and twelve hits, throughout the fuselage, tail assembly and wings.
How the ten crew members aboard escaped unscratched defies
human explanation. There are no atheists aboard bombers either.
Then it happened .... It was 3 AM when the charge-of-quarters
woke us. We slipped on our flying suits. sprinkled our eyelids and
then slumped down in our seats at mission briefings. "Gentlemen,
our target for today is the Astro Romano oil refinery at Ploesti,
Roumania . . .... " Here was a beauty. I thought, but the most heavily
defended target in all Europe . .. .. As you know our primary objective
in strategic air warfare is to destroy the enemy's war makingcapacity
to the extent that he will no longer have the will nor ability to wage
war. The German machine runs on oil. Destroy his oil supplies and
his entire system collapses. Ploesti supplies 80% of the enemy's oil. .. ..
The target and its importance described, the briefing then continued
with the customary photographs of the target, number and location
of all flak guns, enemy fighter bases, where to expect our own fighter
escort, number and type of bombs we were to carry, etc. Of particular
interest that day was the recent "hot'" intelligence reports coming out
of Yugoslavia. lfforced to bailout over that area we were instructed
1
k oul the guerilla fighter with the Red Star on his hat! .. TilO's
to see There had been reports that Mihailovich and his Chetnik
were "cutting off the ears"' of downed Allied airmen and
them over to the This couldn't be the same man I had
been reading all those glowmg reports about. I thought. But there
were too many other important things to on. A quick
breakfast of powdered eggs, and powdered milk, a stop at
Intelligence to deposit all valuables and identification. a wave to
Romano and off the ground at OS13 hours for mission number
twenty-four. Climbing to altitude we assembled with the test of our
formation at Foggia and took up a magnetic course of 050 degrees. It
was a clear, sunny day as the silver ships soared over the deep blue
Adriatic on its mission of destruction. Gazing out the cockpit
window I could see nOlhing but a skyfull of airplanes. Two hundred
fifty of them, B24'sand B-17's, sailing majestically through the skies.
A feeling of security as well as a sense of pride resounded through my
body. Next came the coastline of Yugoslavia, a change of course to
avoid a flak area and the mission was going along exactly as briefed.
Occasionally a plane would drop OUI of formation with minor engine
trouble and head home, bUI that didn't stop this mighty air armada.
AI the Roumanian border we picked up our fighter escort and altered
course a few times to confuse the ground tracking stations of our
destination. So far everything was working perfectly. Suddenly, ten
minutes out from the target, all hell broke loose. It seemed as if
everyone of Ploesti's 325 gun emplacements opened up at once.
Bombers in the wave ahead of us were exploding or going down in
black smoke. ME-I09s were coming at us from every direction. The
sky ahead was almost completely covered by solid black smoke
caused by the flak bursts. You're scared but you're too concerned
with gming our bombs off first . Dear lord, give me the serenity to
accept the things I cannot change ... OK Jerry, you can hit me later
but not with ten thousand pounds of dynamite on board .. . Seconds
like days. You're committed to your bomb run ... You've got no
... You're part of a formation .. . . There's no room for heroic
ta.ctic! ... Get those bombs Finally, after what seems
ke eterDlly, Bombs away: ' The plane jumps 100 feet higher with
the lighter load. You simultaneously rack it over in the direction of
home and heave a sigh of relief. You're by no means home safe in
'fiollr.trundle bed, but the worst is over. From here on out you stand a
Ightlng chance.
l< .
'1 avmg the target area I glanced over to my right. About one
ml e beyond formation I spotted a single B-17 "Flying Fortress.-This
mUSt have '--- f h .
f one 0 t e 2 or 3 Forts the Germans captured mtact
rom us. From time to time they've been using them to fly (ormation
I
with us and called off our altitude to their ground gun batteries. No
wonder those Kraut b s t r ~ s were so accurate today.
Fortyfive minutes later things quieted down. We had all settled
back comfortably for the trip home" when it '"hit the fan'" again.
S/ Sgt. Carl Walpusk, left waist sunner, broke the silence over the
interphone with '"Look at the pretty pS I s. '" (Carl was the new
addition to our original crew. We had picked him up in Italy. He had
been assigned originally to the 98th Bomb Group as a Supply Sgt.
and had been overseas for over a year. During that time be had seen
combat crews come and go as soon as they completed their quota of
missions. Carl figured the only way he could get home would be as a
crewmember. That being the case, we dug up an old pair of wings and
pinned them on his shirt. Carl was nowa full fledged gunner. Anyone
could point a SO caliber machine gun and pull a trigger - or so we
thought. Our only oversight was fo.getting about the intensive
aircraft identification course normally given back in the states. So
when Carl spotted the P-SIs, he couldn't figure out why they were
shooting at us. Needless to say, the "pretty P-Sls" were
Messerschmitts - ME-I09s.) They were all over us before we knew
what happened. 30mm shells ripped throughout the aircraft. One
burst just a few feet from me and the air was splattered with debris.
We managed to carry on a running fight for about ten minutes, but
the odds were against us and the inflicted damage was much too
great. Half our tail assembly was shot off, aileron control out, no
rudder, huge chunks were torn out of the left wing and fuselage, the
interphone gone and finally gas tanks punctured. This was it! We
could blow up any second with fuel streaming out all over the plane.
The order to abandon ship had to be relayed visually. t grabbed my
chest pack, hooked it on to my harness and lunged out the belly. This
was my first jump. Altitude: 18,000 fect. Temperature: 30 degrccs
below lero. The slipstream carried me straight back, missing the tail
section by inches. As soon as I lost the forward momentum of the
plane, the force of gravity took over and I started falling down.
Although I was fallins at close to 100 miles per hour, the sensation
was more like floating freely through space as there were no nearby
objects to judge relative motion. My fmt thought was to count ten
and pull the ripcord. This is what I had seen in the movies. But this
was no Hollywood set. I and enemy fighters above and enemy
territory below. 1ft pulled my ripcord right then I would be a sittin.
duck for Fritz. At 1 8,000 feet it would take approximately 20 minutel
to parachute to the ground. By that time every Kraut for miles
around would have spotted mc coming down and been on hand to
welcome me as soon as I bit. My safcst bet was to delay opening my
chute as long as I could. After freefalling about 14,000 fcct thc

nund started to come up pretty fast. 1 crossed my fingers and
the ripcord. The sudden jerk caused me to blackout for a split
p econd, but then the canopy blossomed out beautifully. In a little
I was on the ground, right smack in the middle of an open field.
Instinctively I thought of getting out of my parachute harness and
heading for cover. It was only then I realized I had been hit and
couldn't move my leg. It wouldn't have helped. As if from nowhere
about twenty peasants appeared. Men, women and children. The
bearded men threw their arms around me and kissed me. They were
grinning from ear to ear. The women and children stood back inawe.
lt was a wonderful feeling being with friends - or were they? I thought
about the Intelligence briefing that morning . ...... Look for the man
with the red star .... The Chetniks will cut off your ears . ..... My hands
started to reach up to protect my ears, but these wonderful people
couldn't be hostile. Besides, what ehoicc did I have? As usual,
Intelligence "goofed" again.
When they had all taken their turns embracing me, they raised
me on their shoulders and carried me about 500 yards to a group of
three cabins. Before long I was lying comfortably in a small room. A
few minutes later about thirty more villagers had heard the news and
each filed by my bed to see the visitor that dropped from space. They
brought fruit , flowers and slivovitz - (Serbian 160 proof plum
brandy.) To celebrate this momentous occasion two of the younger
men played music while the children danced. For me. it was more like
coming back. home than being shot down in enemy territory. and I
loved it. We didn't have 10 speak each other's language. The mutual
understanding was there. One of the armed men then offered me a
water tumbler full of slivovitz. and while we toasted the happy
occasion, he poured the remainder of the bottle over my woundsand
bandaged them.
,
. After the initial excitement tapered off, an elderly peasant hesi-
tatmgly approached. He pointed outside the cabin to me and then
clasped hi s hands in a prayerful gesture. He then provided me with a
crudely fashioned crutch and I followed him. It was their chapel. We
both knelt in humble prayer and gave thanks. Though separated by
language, country and religion, the brotherhood of man was never
more in meaningful evidence.
In the late afternoon I met Colonel Dragisha Vasic:h. He had
heard of my arrival and came to welcome me. He was very striking in
neatly dressed. about sixty-five, snow white hair and a
tnm goatee. He had been the biggest editor and publisher in Belgrade
before the war. Soon after the invasion he left his home and business
and went into the hills to carryon the fight for freedom. Mihailovich
10
MemlH,. oj til e Allied Missio" w;tll t l l ~ Co,ps Comtn""thr ~ o
DIlSII"" SmiljG"klt, /wro ."d /Hi. 0/ CruzG. III lite .. 1I1a.l!-!11
KGmelllu, Novembn 14, "4.}.
h d made him the Corps Commander of the area I was in. His wife, a
f:rmer schoolteacher. acted as interpreter. She wu the first one I met
ho spoke English. We sat under a huge tree surrounded by the
:lIagers as he spoke with the humility of tile truly great. He told me
how honored his people were to have me there. How they cheered
every time they saw the American bombers oyerhead en route to
destroying our common enemy. I was the first American most ofrus
people had ever seen. He then related how his people took tothe hills
in April 1941 after the Hitler invasion. How Mihailovich, as King
Peter's Minister of War had gathered together a guerilla force of over
300,000 men and, though poorly equipped, had wreaked havoc with
the hated Nazi. How Mosc:owtrained Tito suddenly appeared on the
scene and declared himself It he representative of the Yugoslav
government. How Tito amounted to nothing more than a minor
annoyance until the Big Three conference at Teheran in November
1943. Uncle Joe, seiting on the opportunity created by the chaotic
conditions of wartime occupation and an absentia King, insisted we
withdraw Allied support from Mihailovich and recognize his man
Tilo. The skillful Russian leader was already planning the bloodless
addition of another country under his control after the war. No
officialannounoement was ever made, but gradually Allied support
to Mihailovich dropped 0((. Official communiques started to come
out of Tito's headquarters and Mihailovich was abandoned.
Although this made Mihailovich's task that much more difficult they
carried on nonetheless. Not only were they hampered in their
struggle against the German invader, they now had to fight off a
much better equipped Tito guerilla force.
As for my own present situation, Colonel Vasich went on tou:
plain: The Chetnib had counted ten chutes coming out of my plane.
The Germans had reached the spot where our disabled plane had
cruhed. They pulled one body out of the wreckage, stripped it of aU
valuables and left. A band ofChetniks then swarmed down, carried
the body 10 a cabin and returned to remove the SO calibre machine
guns from the plane. They could not identify the body as the
Germans had stripped off his dog tags.
He further explained there was a German garrdon ofSOOtroops
about 2 miles away and another larger one of 2,000 at ten miles.
Although Ihere wu Ihe ever constant danger of being discovered by
German patrols, I need have no fear. He was assigning one of his
~ t able and courageous men to me as my per.onal bodnuard.
M10drag Stefanovich was charged with the responsibility of
protecting my life at the risk of his. He was never to leave my side. I
was to sleep at all times fully clothed and ready to take off at a
moment's . . .
nOlace Just In case the group I was with was discovered. I
12

O/M-,.tiOfttll fHlrlS oJ Commllnd al doily tllSJa in
M100tb IUId mount.ins oJ YIII0s!IIV;Il.
IJ
to have complete freedom of movement at all times and could go
W-:Where I pleased. As (or my chances artvacustion. he pointed out
wert difficult but not impossible. I stood a much better chance
( being picked up by a rescue team on the coast, but there would be
o any hazards reaching there. It was 2.50 miles distant and over
rn auntaino
us
terrain and through German control. Although he
against it he would give me all the assistance I needed should
I decide to try it.
He then mentioned how concerned Mihailovich was, not only
with our safety, but with our morale as well . He realized how closely
knit American family ties were and wanted to avoid any unnecessary
wony ovcr the customary "Missing in Action" telegram. Normally.
the War Department waits thirty days before scnding the MIA
telegram to the next of kin. To avoid this, Mihailovich would wire
name, rank and serial number to the next of kin and advise them of
our safety. He had a shon wave transmitter in the hills and would
send this information to a station in Cairo. Cairo in turn would relay
it to the Yugoslavian Ambassador in Washington, Constantin
Folitch. (After the war I met Ambassador Fotitch in Washington.
He told me he received this information about me and so advised the
War Depanment. As Mihailovich at that time was no longer
recognized this information was ignored and an official "Missing in
Action" telegram was needlessly sent to my family. )
That night I slept soundly; cabin, fireplace and straw-mattress
bed. I awoke early to a heavy downpour and noticed my ten man
guard huddled together outside under a tree and getting soaked. I
beckoned to Miodragand inquired why the men hadn't come in by
the fire. His gestures indicated they were afraid they might awaken
m,.
About ten o'clock that morning, S/ Sgt. Carl Astifan. my nose
gunner, strolled into the village with the men who picked him up. We
embraced, back-slapped and jumped for joy at the sight of each
Other. SOOn as we settled down I asked if he knew whose body they
removed from the plane. His reply was negative.
At 3 that afternoon in came Lt. Kenneth Mann, my bombardier.
Soon as Ken hit the ground he thought he would play it by the book.
Our stateside survival training had taught us in the eyent ofa bailout
Over enemy territory to take cover in the hills find a farmhouse and
it out for a few days, surviving in the'meantime on berries,
. etc. As per instructions, Ken buried his chute and remained
In the hills. By morning he was cold, hungry and disgusted, so
the hell with this noise. He headed for the nearest cabin and
onunately found it friendly. I made similar inquiry of Ken; if he
14
a
'to
= _.
Mjhllilovic" in w;t" II
oj 1M
15
knew who had been killed. He too had no information. At least we
knew 3 who had survived.
The following morning we heard noises. Dancing and singing up
the path were a group of children, immediately followed by two
raunchy looking characten on horseback. They were covered with
flowers. It was Tech Sgt. Leonard "Tex" Pritchett, our flight
engineer, and Tech. Sgt. Israel "Bronx" Meyer, our radio operator.
All five of us took turns embracing each other and rolling on the
grass with joy. Each one then related his own indiVUlual experiences
since leaving the ship. Eventually theall important question that was
on everyone's mind came up. Whose body did the Germans find?
Which one of our buddies was killed? The ill fated day we were shot
down we carried our regular crew of ten plus an extra photographer
to like pictures of the bomb hits of the wave ahead of us. That left six
men unaccounted for . We tried to piece together what we each had
experienced just prior to bailing out, but had no luck. The 5 in our
present group had all been at our positions in the forward section and
with our interphone shot out had no way of knowing what was going
on in the tail. Still trying to figure out who he might have been, we
each lay back and silently thought to ourself. Strange, the warmth
and understanding you fed towards others when you think they
might be gone forever .
Word came the following day that the other five surviving mem-
bers of the crew had been assembled. We were all to rendezvous at a
nearby farmhouse. What should have been a joyous reunion was
instead a gloomy occasion. The question in everyone's mind - who
was it? On the way over no one said a word. We entered the room
where our other five men had already assembled. There was a brief
silence as we all scanned faces. Then someone sobbed out "Tom!" ...
It was Staff Sgt. Thomas P. Lovett of Roxbury, Mass., our scrappy
little ban turret gunner. ;r"here wasn't a dry eye in the room. Tom
knew we were abandoning the ship, but wanted to stay onjust a little
longer to get one more Nazi bastard. He never got to tell us about it.
The next month was spent preparing for ourevacuation.During
that time we roamed the hills with different luerilla bands. For
security reasons our crew never traveled more than 3 in the same
group. No matter how often I changed bands, Miodrag was never
more than 2 or 3 steps behind me. He seemed to mysteriously sense
everytime I sot the nicotine urge. I used to glance: behind me and
there he was rolling the paper and then presenting it to me to lick.
We were constantly on the move. Never stayed at one farmhouse
Or location more than 2 nites, usually one. During that time I must
have COvered well over 500 miles, but not in a straisht line. Each new
J6
Amrrican LirlJtr.nllnt Colond A. B. Sr.it: Uirst from thr kft) lind
British Colonrl HlJdson (srcondfrom the right) at thr swtaring in of
rrcrlJilS of tht First SllJdtnica Brigadr in R IJdno, Drumbr.r 6, 1943.
17
village and each new farmhouse brought new experiences.
One farmhouse I spent the night at belonged to a middle-aged
couple. The wife's scnile mother lived with them. She couldn't
comprehend what this "foreigner'" was doing sharing their meager
food supply and was most unfriendly. Tbe night before I left the four
of us were scsated for the evening meal. I raised my tumbler full of
slivovitz and toasted the King (Zhiveo Kral Petar). She couldn't very
well refuse and reluctantly had a nip. Seizing my opportunity, I
raised my glass again and toasted, in sequence. Oraza Mihailovich,
President Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and so on down the line. By
tbe time I got to Mickey Mouseand Deanna Durbin the old gal and I
were bosom buddies. She cried when I left the following morning.
(Strangely enough, tbese were the 2 Hollywood stars tbey all seemed
to know. and all Americans were either "'Texas cowboys" or
"Chicago gangsters.,,)
Miodrag had dug up an old Serbian-English dictionary for me.
At every new village, I would recite from I to 10 in Serbian and the
peasants would be: overjoyed while Miodrag beamed with pride. The
dictionary was only a small handbook, but it made possible the most
fascinating conversation with the people. While our language
difference preo.;ent..-::d a problem it was by no means a barrier. Between
my high school German, College Spanish. grandma's Yiddish and
Serbian English dictionary and their smattering of different
European tongues, we managed to communicate most of our
thoughts. A single sentence usually consisted of words from 2 or 3
different languages plus hand gestures, facial expressions and picture
drawing. All their questions were of America. They spoke of our
country with reverence. awe and admiration. One of their favorite
questions was "How mucb does an average laborerin Americaearn?
Answering tbem in terms of dollars had no meaning to them. Instead
I would tell them he could""earn so many loaves of bread. dozens of
eggs or pairs of shoes in one day. Invariably they were amazed. They
all wanted to come to America after the war. If just one-tenth of the
people who promised to visit me ever came over, Conrad Hilton
Would have to be my landlord.
About three days after we bailed out, Colonel Vasich r e e i ~ d
an ultimatum from the local German garrison. Either they turn over
th.e ten American fliers they had seen bailout or the Germans would
Wipe out an entire village of 200 women and children. Naturally I
eXpected we would all turn ounelvesin. Living in a prison camp with
~ chance of escape was little enough price for us to pay for saving 200
~ v e ~ of their people. While praising our noble gesture, Colonel
aSlch would hear none of it. He went on toexplain how life isjustas
18
Onu upon a this was a villalt, now dtstroytd
by Gomlln and USlashi hordts .
9
precious to the .Serbls it is .tothe American. Howeve.r, b e c u ~ it is.so
precious the pnce comes high. The Serb has spent virtually his entire
history fighting off different enemies in order to protect his freedom
and individual dignity. We in America who have not had it as often
or so close to home may find it difficult to understand what appears
on the surface a cruel thing. Life without freedom meant nothing to
them. One American flier, dropping one bomb on the common
enemy could do more toward achieving their goal than 200 or even
2,000 women and children.
Their choice was as simple as that .... I had heard of it bein,
better todieon one's feet than to live on one's knees. I have never seen
it more emphatically demonstrated .... The following day I watched
the burning of the village.
During the early part of the war, while Tito was being briefed
and trained in Moscow, the Chetnik guerillas took a heavy toll of
German lives. Word ofthese humiliating losses was shielded from the
German high command until they eventually assumed crippling
proportions. An infuriated Hitler dispatched sorely needed troops
from the Russian front and personally directed reprisals be taken
against the civilian popUlation. For every German soldier killed, one
hundred Serbs would be slaughtered. The wholesale massacre of
their entire civilian population was certainly not worth the relatively
few and unimportant troops they could kill. New methods had to be
devised. Each German they killed had to be important. Each act of
sabotage had to go undetected and still be effective . "'Subtle
Sabotage" became their new weapon.
Fortunately, I was allowed to participate on some of these mis-
sionsand witnessed their ingenious methods. One night Miodragand
I joined a group of 6 Chetniks and stole down to the railroad yards.
One of our railway workers had brought us the news that a supply
train was due to leave fully loaded in the momin,for Roumania. The
rest of us stood guard while a 15 year old Chetnik slipped aboard the
coal car and "added" to their supply of coal. The chunks he added
hOVo't ver, were actually hollowed out and filled with TNT. The rate of
coal consumption had to be accurately figured out 10 that the "'coal'"
would not be used until the train was well within the Roumanian
border.
Another method we used was covering the axle gears of supply
trucks, box<ars etc., with finely pulverized gravel. Many miles away
and many days later trucks and trains would mysteriously break
down.
. . The nights that I went on these raids were strictly on my own
InSistence. Miodrag repeatedly advised me against doing so and died
20
,
I
4
I
a thousand deaths until we retreated safely to the hills.
The basic diet consisted mainly of black bread, cheeses, assorted
vegetables and plums - plus the ever constant slivovitz: 160 proof
plum brandy. The hills abounded with plum trees. No matter how
poor the farmhouse, they would each"have their own distillery. Eggs,
chicken or any form of meat was scarce. If there were any to be had
they would be certain to offer it to me, their honored guest. Slivovitz
was served at every meal a,nd it would be an insult to your host to sit
with anything but a full glass.
The people who fed or sheltered us did so at the risk of their lives
If it had been discovered it would have meant certain death to them
for aiding the enemy.
At all times under my jacket I wore onc air corps emblem and
my lieutenant bar. This was in keeping witb tbe terms oftbe Geneva
Conference which tbe Germans bonorably respected in dealing with
our troops. If captured by the enemy, the two military buttons would
serve notice that I was a military combatant and entitle me to be
treated as a prisoner of war. Without them I could be shot as a spy.
The Chetniks requested that I provide them with the name, ranle.
serial number and hometown of Tom Lovett for inscription on his
grave marker. They had given him a proper burial at which a Serbian
Orthodox priest officiated and 300 of their villagers paid him respect.
Afterwards they gave me pictures of the funeral procession and
gravemarker to give to Tom's family.
An interesting sidelight of my travels was the 3 days I spent with
a Russian officer who had escaped from the German prison camp at
Belgrade. A Russian enlisted man had also escaped with him and
even under these unusual circumstances served as his aide and valet.
Strictest military discipline between the two was maintained at all
times. Probably the oddest sight of the war was the valet applying the
finishing touches of a spit-polish shine to the officer's boots just
before he steped out into the mud. His stern military bearing
crumbled the moment I mentioned my Mother's Russian ancestry.
Once again the feeling of brotherhood overcame a language
dirrerence. Just before we parted on our separate ways he gave me the
following note in Russian to give to her: "Dear Dora, Forgiw me/or
calling you by your firsllUlme bUll do not know your father:rname.
Your son and I were thrown by fate imo a pit 0/ circumstance
accidently Gnd we Gre al/ very sorry about what happened, but we
firmly believe that jn the near future,your son willrelurn home. Weart
also sure of a quick victory. Only then willI too be able to return to
my Fatherland. With warmest regards to you . .. . Major Mihael
Minayo//' 119 Maxim Gorky Street, Rostov, U.S.S.R.
/31 VIII 1944."
21
One bright and sunny afternoon my shadow and 1 stopped by
the viJlage inn. The and about seven ofthe villagers knew
of me and raised their glasses in my direction. Afterdowninga few,a
Getman patrol car pulled up outside. The driver remained in the car
while an oberlieutenant came in to look around. I was feeling no pain
so welcomed him for a drink. He was very young looking and
apparently not in the least bit hostile. He accepted the drink and
insisted on paying for the round. I will never forget my looking him
Squarely in the eye and saying to myself "Heres one Jewboy you
slimy bastards don " throw in no ovens." I could just sense everyone
in the bar holding their breath especially Miodrag, whose blood
pressure must have hit 250. Fritz finally left, followed by a collective
sigh of relief.
Clean clothes were a problem. I can only recall one time we
washed our clothes. ""rex", "Bronx" and I stayed with a farmer who
had 2 young daughters. One 16 and one 18 years old. In the morning
they pointed to our clothes and suggested we follow them. They took
us to a stream. The 3 of us then stripped behind a rock and threw
them our clothes. We could hear them giggling on the other side.
Soon as they dried, they threw them back to us and we were on our
way.
Lt . Milton E. Friend of Passaic, New Jersey became one of my
closest friends in the service. We met in June of 1943 as Aviation
Cadets at Se)man Field, La. With virtually everything in the military
arranged alphabetically, Felman and Friend were assigned adjoining
bunks. Through all phases of our training we were invariably
assigned together and became inseparable. We graduated the same
day and took our leaves together. After graduation, assignments in
Our cadet flight of 42 students were scattered throughout the world,
but our luck still held out. Coincidentally, we both picked up our new
crews, further training and overseas orders at the same time.
Departing Natal, Brazil for the )ong overwater hop to Africa we flew
a 2 ship '"buddy" formation. It was only when we arrived in Jtalythal
We were split up and assigned to different bases 5 miles apart. J
arranged to meet Milt on the following Sunday night at the Red
Cross in Lecce. When I arrived there his copilot told me that Milt
been shot down on his first mission. The balance ofthis anecdote
as unbelievable as it is obvious .... Thousands of miles from the
tales and in the middle of enemy territory, my group ran across
another roaming guerilla band and right smack in their midst wasmy
buddy Milton, guzzling down a bottle of slivovitz. It was a
tnillion to one shot.
22
I
1
I
,
1
I
All this time plans were being discussed for our evacuation. The
situation was a difficult one. We had no official means of
communication or contacts in the area. Although Mihailovich had a
short wave transmitter, he was no longer recognized by the Allies.
Even if they did pick. up our message, we' had no prearranged code or
frequency to transmit on. Day by day as OUf air offensive increased
more planes ' were being shot down over our area and we were
gathering quite a large force. We had also added a number of
Russian, Italian, French, Canadian and British personnel who had
either been shot down or escaped from the German prison camp at
Belgrade. As our situation began to appear hopeless, the ranking
American officers held a pow-wow. We decided our only chance was
to risk a transmission in the clear and in the blind to Fifteenth Air
Force Headquarters at Bari, Italy .... SOS . . SOS ... 150
AmerlClln crewmembers in need of rescue ... lII.ny sick .nd
wounded ... dvise ... SOS ... SOS. We transmitted our
message for two days but no reply was received. Headquarters must
be getting our transmissions but figure it must be a trap. How could
we convince them our message was authentic and not sent by the
Germans or by Americans under torture? After days of pondering
over this seemingly hopeless situation, we hit upon the idea of
devising our own code. This we could do by referring to items that
only we would know about. By this method we would positively
establish our identity and hope to convince 15th Air Force that we
wouldn' go to such extremes if we were being tortured. We
transmitted our intentions and proceeded to spell out tbe new code.
For the letter "A" we would use the third letter in the hometown of
the bartender at the Lecce Officer's Club. For the letter'"B" tbe fourth
letter in the name of the photography on the Intelligence Officer's
desk at Brindisi . And so on down tbe line. This method would also
enable us to receive the evacuation plan, if it ever came through,
without revealing it to any German monitoring station.
We took turns at transmitting and then maintained an around-
the-clock watch. After three days a reply came through .. . "St.ndby
for .Ircn.ft 31 July 2200 hours .. Only two d.ys .w.y."This was
our first ray of hope in all the time we had been there. Word quickly
spread through the hills and spirits soared .
The following morning the air was filled with excitement. Gene-
ral Draza Mihailovich had come to visit with usand to insure us that
every protection and cooperation would be given us . He initially
appeared, not witb ofa Commander-
in-Chief of an army of 300,000 men, but on foot and surrounded by
scores of laughing children. Here was a great man, buta simple man.
A man of the people whose dignity and strength were not diminished
n
Rtscutd Flitrs broullrl by PtllSanls and Clrdnib 10
tilt Suprtmt Htadquarttrs.
24
by his humility. Of the hundreds of Serbs 1 spoke with there was not
one that did not speak of him with reverence and love. We proceeded
to the airstrip where one thousand of his troops put on a review in our
honor. Afterwards the American fliers assembled under a huge tree
and Mihailovich spoke to us through an interpreter. It was
undoubtedly of the most impressive and unbelievable scenes of
the war. Here was the greatest guerilla leader of all time. the Minister
of War of His Majesty's Government. seated on a rock and
discussing the affairs of state with over one hundred bearded,
shabbily-dressed, average soldiers of a foreign country. Hestared off
into space as he related how he always admired the freedomloving
principles and ideals of America. How he hoped that some day his
people could enjoy these same liberties. He then related how
disappointed he was at the way the Allied nations had abandoned
him. How strange the bitler ironies of war. he thought out loud .
During the time he was slaughtering thousands of German troops,
Tilo. a Russian agent was a friend of the Nazi . One deceitful power
play by Stalin and Tito becomes the fair haired boy in Yugoslavia.
He was also well aware oftke false reports Tito had broadcast about
him and appealed to us to take back the truth to our homeland. I was
only a few feet away from himas he spoke and it was obvious his eyes
were watuy.
Speaking what was on his heartfint. he then turned to thesitua
tion at hand. Within a day he would have over 8.000 of his men
surrounding the airstrip. If the evacuation plan should be discovered
by the enemy. his men could hold them off long enough to getall our
planes off the ground. He mentioned the German garrisons of six
thousand troops at Chacak. about twelve miles away. but assured us
we need not be concerned. Even though the Germans were far better
equipped they would have difficulty maneuvering the tricky
mountainous terrain in their vehicles and would have to resort to hill
fighting at which the Chetniks had no equal.
After the informal meeting broke up he greeted each one of us
personally and signed our '"short snorters." As the group dispersed to
their respective campsites. he invited a few of us to join him for
dinner at a nearby farmhouse. After the evening meal we sat around
singing. dancing and tGasting to victory. As the of the
evening tapered off. Mihailovich asked me about my family,
schooling and future plans. His interest was truly sincere, not
feigned . We discussed many things for the remainder of the evening
and I became more and more impressed with his deep warmth and
subtle strength. As we said goodnight, I presented him with myela5s
ring which he had previously admired. He would only accept it ifhe
15
Soldir,s of the Ravna Co,. Co'ps who tua,drd Ihe sll/dy of
airfitld in thr JliIIlltr oJ du,int Iht rJlt,cullliOn of '"r main
"oup oj AmrriClln /lirrs on A UluSIID, 1'44. Ctnt'(ll Miltailovicll
IlISptcts Iht t,oops btfo't tilt;' dtJXUluu for tltt l(lslt .
26
could reciprocate with the ceremonial dagger he carried at his side. It
is one of my m'>st treasured possessions.
We now had to work fast. Our numbers were steadily increasing,
and were scattered within a hundred mile radius of the airstrip, ifit
could be called that. The Germans had. control of all the airfields. The
only stretch of land that even resembled an airstrip was at Pranjane.
It was a narrow, furrowed plateau used for cattle and sheep grazing.
In width, no more than 100 feet of it was usable. Its length of 1900 feet
was well below the minimums for anything buta Piper Cub. We had
no idea of the intentions of Fifteenth Air Force. Were they going to
drop supplies? Where they going to land and try to evacuate us? We
gathered as many Chetniks, Russians, Canadians and Italians as we
could and worked feverishly on the strip.
The night of July 31 one hundred sixty Allied airmen breath-
lessly awaited a rendezvous with an unknown quantity. It was pitch
dark and there were no navigational radio aids. This would require
precision, pin-point navigation to locate us. At the prearranged
hour, 10 PM, there was a complete silence. Minutes dragged on. At
10:38 PM we had almost given us hope when we heard the faint drone
of an airplane in the distance. Was our rescuer late or was it a
searching German aircraft? We were tempted to light the three flare
pots at either side of the strip, but decided it best not to risk giving
away our position ifit was German. We trudged away from the strip
disheartened. The following day we tried contacting Hqs again, but
no luck. At night we returned to the airstrip again but heard nothing.
As it was our only source of hope we returned the third night,
August 2, once again. At 10:15 PM we heard a plane in the distance.
Could this be the one? Spirits were low, hope was faltering, we were
ready to risk anything. We lit the flare pots and the wind tee showing
the direction of landing and waited. The unidentified plane saw the
lights and turned toward us. Asit descended and headed for the strip,
rosary beads and mazuzahs were kissed.
Whoever it was camein low and then buzzed the field. In the dim
light all eyes strained searching for the slightest clue ... Finally we
saw it. A large white star painted on the side of the fuselage. The
insignia of the United States Army Air Corps. The cheers were
deafening. This was the first tangible sign we had had that 15th Air
Force Hqs recognized our plight and that rescue was forthcoming.
The plane turned around, made another pass at the strip and
then headed offin the direction of Italy. A few minutes laterChetniks
were running toward us carrying packages'dropped by the plane. The
excitement kept mounting. Moments later a large throng of joyful
Chetniks approached and in their midst wasa huge American officer.
27
Another of tht many rescued allied fliers.
28
He extended his hand and introduced himself ... "I'm Lt. George
Musulin,OSS ....
Musulin brought with him two other men - Master Sgt. Michael
Rajacich, Intelligence Specialist, and Arthur Jibilian, Navy radio
expert. They were officially designated as Air Corps Rescue Unit
Team Number One. Of greater importance, they had brought with
them supplies, radios and an evacuation plan.
All three men were of Yugoslavian extraction and spoke the lan-
guage fluently. Mwulin had been in Yugoslavia before as liaison
officer with Mihailovich but had been recalled when support was
switched to Tito. He knew many of the people there and they greeted
him warmly and affectionately.
Bright and early the following morning the wheels started to
turn. Jibilian contacted Hqs on a prearranged frequency and with a
more formal code. He received a "'well done" from Major General
Nathan Twining, Commanding General of Fifteenth Air Force.
Musulin discussed our numbers, sick and wounded, latest reports on
German positions, etc. Rajacich turned over the medical supplies to
the escaped Italian doctor who was treating us. (Of all the supplies
that were dropped, the most welcome sight to me was a roll of toilet
tissue. I had contracted amoebic dysentary a few days after my
arrival and my supply bills had long run out. After that I
had to resort to coarse leaves. Undoubtedly my five hundred mile
trek through the hills could be spotted from the air simply by
relracing the trail of bare bushes.)
OUf next step was to improve the airstrip. Musulin advised us
that C-47s would be coming in to evacuate us. This meant an
additional 300 feet of runway at the very minimum. To compound
the problem there was a group oftrees at one end ofthestrip. Should
the wind be coming from the opposite end of the runway, an
approach over these trees would make the first six to seven hundred
feet of landing distance useless. All these problems, plus the
additional hazards of the evacuation being scheduled at night, added
up to an almost impossible situation. Nevertheless, work started
immediately with all hearts praying for success. Every available man
started digging, hauling and unloading. Even the women and
children chipped in. Around the clock we worked for five consecutive
days and nights. On the night of August 8 we decided wedid as much
as we possibly could with the poor equipment we had. Every minute's
delay meant that much of being discovered. We radioed
Hqs to start evacuation the following night.
The plan itself was simple. We had two hundred and forty one
men to be evacuated. Musulin assigned each man a number with
2.
PrrfHIrinl Jor drpllrllJU - Prtmjllni, AUIIJSI12, 1944
30
priorit y given the sick and wounded and then based on length of stay
in Yugoslavia. Becawe of the extremely hazardow runway
conditions and the limited visibility at night. only twelve men could
be assigned per plane. In order to lighte9the load further. the planes
would have to be stripped to the barest necessities (no armament)
and only minimum fuel carried. Even with these precautions many
wise old hands were skeptical.
The following day. August 9.1944.we spent the momingputting
the finishing touches on the strip and sat back and waited. A few
cows and sheep taking advantage of the lull in activity. returned to
graze. As we relaxed amid this peaceful rural scene we heard the
sound of engines. In no time at all. three Stuka dive bombers
appeared and buzzed the strip. Had they spotted our position or did
the grning cows throw them off? Were they right now radioing their
base or was it just a coincidence their flying over? As our pick-up was
scheduled only a few hours away, our rescue planes had already
taken orr. it was 100 late to call them back. As a precautionary
measure we sent word to check all surrounding German garrisons for
any indication of increased activi ty. We had no other choice but to
wait - and pray.
Night fell and we all assembled at theairstrip.At precisely IOPM
we heard engines. Anxiously we blinked 3 dashes: They
replied with ... Kilo.... the prearranged code signal. Positive
identification. The flare pots were lit . Now for the most difficult part
of the operation. The wind had been Shifting all day. Hit shifted into
the trees at the end ohhe runway. a landing would be impossible. The
first plane made his approach .... As he came over the edge of the
runway he gave it the gun and continued on. He had misjudged the
strip and overshot. The same thing happened with the second and
third planes .... So near and yet so far .... Let me upthere. 111 show
them how to do it .. ...
The next plane approached and this time everyone prayed har-
der. He made it. He pulled to a full stop only inches from the edge of
the strip. There was no time for back-slapping or display of gratitude.
Numbers one to twelve got on board and took off barely missing the
group of trees. It was so close that had his wheels not jwt been
retracted he would have hit them. The next plane could not land
either and was gunned around. The following attempt was
successful. however in taxiing around, one of the wheels got stuck in
a ditch. Every available hand and back was applied tothe plane until
he got back on the strip. He also quickly loaded his 12 grateful
passengers and roared off.
By this time Musulin decided we had been pushing our luck too
3.
In the plane deparfin, for Bari, Italy
32
far. We could not allow any more of the planes to land under these
conditions at night. We blocked off the strip and signalled the planes
to return to tneir base without landing.
(The very same planes that picked ~ up from the Chetniks had
dropped supplies to Tito's Partisans on the way over. How cruel,
ignorant and ungrateful can our policy-making brain trust be?)
Musulin got to work immediately. He radioed our situation to
Hqs and were advised to "standby." No one left the strip throughout
the night .
At the crack of dawn there was an ear-splitting noise in the dis-
tana:. Every head looked skyward. The air seemed to be saturated
with airplanes. We counted six C-47s surrounded by about 100 P-S Is
and P-38s. Here was Hqsanswer. Once again our cheers rang out and
almost drowned out the noise of engines. The powers-te-be had
decided that only a daytime evacuation could be successful and sent
fighters along for protection. Daytime operations would also permit
the loading of twenty men per plane, requiring fewer transports for
the evacuation.
As a diversionary tactic the fighters peeled off and strafed every
Swastika within a radius of fifty miles. Supply convoys, freight
trains, troop encampments .. . . nothing German escaped their guns.
It was one of the greatest airshows of World War II .
While all this was going on overhead, the dramatic evacuation
went on with machine-like precision. There were many many tearful
departures between Americans and Chetniks who had formed very
close relationships. Many Americans removed various items of
clothing, particularly shoes, to leave with their less fortunate
comrades. But farewells had to be short. The planes' fuel supply was
figured to the last drop and no time could be lost on sentimentality.
While there were a few anxious moments, the entire operation
went off without a hitch. The unarmed transports assembled over the
airstrip, the fighters formed their protective cover and the mighty
armada started its perilous return to Italy.
Thirty minutes later the second wave of six C-47s and one hun-
dred "Mustangs" and "Lightnings" appeared and the entire show was
repeated. In all, 243 Americans. plus an assortment of twenty
Russians, British, French. Canadians, Italians and Yugoslavians
were evacuated safely to Italy.
The flight back over enemy territory, while not without incident,
was anticlimactic. Our path took us over many gun emplacements,
and occasionally a group of ME-I09s would appear. But all planes
returned safely and there were no casualties .
31
1'h, _rival oj tile rescued fliers in Btlri, Itllly on AUIUSI 10, 1941
34
We all landed safely at Bari, ltaly and were met by General Twi-
ning. He greeted us all personally and then cautioned us that we were
not to reveal the slightest information of ourcx.periences to anyone
but top level Intelligence officen. The war was It ill very much in
progress and he was taking no chances on jeopardizing future
evacuations. Another consideration was the fear of reprisals that
might be taken against our benefactors.
All of us were then deloused, given new uniforms and sent back.
to our bascs. I remained at the U.S. General Hospital in Bari for the
next two weeks before I was released for duty .
Back at the base our crew had a joyful reunion. Even Romano,
who had never left the night line area during our absence. joined in
the festivities.
As soon as things quieted down. our Intelligence officer called
us in. Word came from Washington ordering the crew to return to
the States. Even though we had not completed our mission quota we
could be shot as spies if captured by the enemy. According to the
rules of the Geneva Conference. any military personnel who have
spent time in enemy territory and then return to their own lines arc
presumed to have brought back information. Consequently, if
subsequently captured by the enemy, we would not be entitled to
prisoner-of-war consideration. but treated as spies and shot. The
shooting war was over for us. The crew had another joyous reunion
in New York and then received individual assignments. I spent the
next few months lecturing fresh-looking apple-cheeked crew
members going overseas on the techniques of survival .. .. my debt to
Mihailovich still not repaid.
(An interesting postscript to my experiences abroad occurred in
New York harbor. Just prior to disembarking. the Red Cross had
brought hot coffee, doughnuts and newspapers on board ship. On
page two of the New York Times was a delayed dispatch from
Yugoslavia. n,O his PQrtiSQn forus hQd
sucussfully Qmmunition dump Qnd railroad
rtrminQ/ at Gorny MilQnovilS Qlrtr fighting off of
Gumlln Qnd co/lilborating troops. Bully for you, Manhall,
there's only one hitch in your story. I had been on that particular raid
with the Chetniks and there wasn't a Red Star within 50 miles ... As
was true of his technique throughout the war, Tito took advantage of
the fact that he controlled the only source of newl coming out of
Yugoslavia, and claimed credit for Mihailovich's victoriel. Here wal
typical Communist proof of the pen being mightier than the sword.)
35
Miltsi/o,,;clt witlt oj oj
MilitfITY Minion stnt Iht SIlCCUsjU/ opntlt;on 0/ the rescut oj
A mtrictln from YUlosls";tI.
36
PART TWO
With the armistice signed, Tito and his Communist government
were now firmly entrenched in Yugos)avia"- the result of the greatest
(next to Berlin) and cruelest diplomatic blunder of World War II.
The only threat to Tilo's complete domination of Yugoslavia was
Mihailovich, the true leader of the people, still living in the hills.
Realizing the overwhelming support of his opponent, the
Communist leader dispatched every available man he had to hunt
him down. It took almost two years.
On March 2S. 1946, Tilo brazenly announced that Mihailovich
had been captured and would be tried as a "'War Collaborator ..... .
WAR This was the man who saved my
life as well as the lives of almost six hundred other Allied airmen. I
had a reward poster put out by the Germans offering 100,000
Reichmarks in gold for his capture .. . . A "War Collaborator'!"' ... I
flushed with rage. The true story must be told - and a debt repaid.
(While travelling through Yugoslavia I had ripped the following
reward poster from a tree. They were posted throughout the
countryside and in all the villages.)
"REWARD
100,000 REICHMARKS IN GOLD WILL BE AWARDED
TO THE PERSON BRINGING IN, DEAD OR ALIVE THE
LEADER OF THE BANDITS, DRAZA MIHAILOVICH.
This criminal tbrew the c::ountry into its crutnt disaster. Emerc-
ing from a deprned life, he Imagined he was c::alled to libt:'rate the
nation. As an EnC!isb hirelinc this ridic::u1ous boaster did not plan
any thine else tban to break the road to Bobhnism, and tbus helped
to destroy all the national property that the people recarded as
sacred. He thus disrupted the peace of the peasants and dtiuns. He
demolished property, estates and lives of thousands of people; and
the c::ountry is, as a result, In Indesc::rlbable misery and ponrty.
THEREFORE, THIS MOST DANGEROUS BANDIT OF THE
COUNTRY IS VALUED AT 100,000 REICHMARKS IN GOLD.
The person who proves that this c::riminal was c::aptured and sur-
rendered to the nearetauthorities, will not only receive the reward of
100,000 Relc::bmarb in cold, but wut also perform a patriotic:: ad.
since he will reltast: the c::ountry of the whip of the inhuman tenor.
BY THE SUPREME COMMANDER
OF THE GERMAN TROOPS'"
37
Mereh towtud i,. 1'43 tOtetMr with
the A /lied offiurs.
38
Propelled by my fury. I proceeded to hit every newspaper in
New York City .... Tbe News and Mirror regretted their format did
not allow for a story of this nature. The Than suggested a to
Editor.- The pink" Posl and PM showed me the door.
Discouraged. but not beaten. I headed for the JoumaJ-AmeooD
whose strong anti-Red policy assured me of a warm reception.
Promised national. front-page coverage. I gave them the story. It was
published in all Hearst newspapers. March 31 , 1946. In no time,
letters of support poured in from aU over the country. Other airmen
who had been saved by Mihailovich offered assistance. The
Archbishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church in New York City, a
close friend of Mihailovich. thanked me for my effom and then
added: "It not Drozo or DrllzlI
will from hills to /Hoplr. TM important thing is to
his
Things then staned to happen fast. On April 3 I told my story
over the NBC radio network. Together with a few former buddies of
mine we formed the Committee to Aid General Mihailovich.- In a
matter of one 'll'k we received over 300 depositions from airmen
who had been with us in Yugoslavia. On April 28. 1946 twenty of us
plus two Canadians chartered a plane and new to Washington to
plead for a fair trial for the man who saved our lives. Whereas we
never claimed to pass judgment on the guilt or innocence of
Mihailovich. a matter technically beyond our province, we offered
the overwhelminl evidence we had in his bchalfto be presented at his
trial.
We were met at the airport by a reception committee of dilna-
taries. Included were Senators Taft. Lafollette, Wiley, Revercomb
and McClellan, Mrs. Alice Roosevelt Longworth and Major General
E.L. Oliver (father of one of the rescued airmen). We were further
encouraged by a turnout of over 2,000 people who cheered us on. A
motorcycle escort accompanied our procession to the Hotel Raleigh
where we let up our base of operations. The following day we
swarmed over Capitol Hill and pleaded our cause to our individual
Senators and Congressmen.
The following il taken from the: Congressional Record 79th
Congress, May I, 1946:
"AMERICAN A VIA TORS AND GENERAL
MIHAILO VICH"
39
Mn. BOLTON (Congresswoman from Ohio): Mr. Sptaker. on
March 191 inserted into the ApJHndix of the Congressional Record a
Itll" publishtd in Ihe Washington Post entitled "In DeftnR of
J\fibaJlo.leb.- This I pnfaud with II few words urging upon this
Gowmment the suuestion that everything possible #H done to
insure II jwt andfair trialfor this man to whose 10YIlI,y lind courllge
somt 60 Amtriclln Ilviatort owe their liws.
Today I would CIlIIIO Ihellllention oflhis Howt the trelltlmnt
meted OUI to a sptcilll delegation of tMU Ilirmen by their
Commander in Chief and by our ikptlrtmtnt of State. 'These flyers
~ f tM;r homes. their jobs. and their families at considerllble exptnu
ond inconvenitnct in order to present their point of view directly 10
tht Prtsident and to the Acting Secretary of State. Their story is wry
simple: Tltey owe their lives to Gentrlll Mihailovich. During their
stay with his troops not one of them nor Ilny oftheir6(}() companions
similarly rescued had utn or luard reliably reporttd the slightest
tvidtnce of any collaboration #Hlwun Gentral Mihailovich and our
common enemy Germany.
A sptcially chllrlutd airline the Missionfor Mihailovich
brought them 10 Washington Sunday afternoon. TMy are leaving
this Ilfternoon greatly disappointtd. having #Hen barred from ewn
tht briefesl of Iludiencts with thtir Commandtr in Chief, Ihe
Prtsidtnt of Iht United States.
First inlerviewtd by Mr. &rbour. chairman of Southern E u r ~
ptan IlIJa'rs. tMY finally wert given opportunity to discws the matltr
with the Acting Suretllry of Stille, Mr. Achtson.
In telling mt their txperknu. they slrtssed the point that thty
W'ldtrJlllnd rojo is to Mve an 'nterAlfied trial. That is what they lire
IUkingfor Gentrlll Mihailovich."7My do not tukfor his release. They
IUk only for jwtlct.
Mr. Sptllker. I mwt express my detp rerret 01 tM lock ofjudg
mtnt ofwhlll is truly in tht public in'erest which cllused this refusal to
/H"n't thtse young men to prtsent 10 tht;r Commander in Chief
resolutions urging him to do all possible to insure justice to tht man
to whom 600 living AmericlltU o ~ the greattst dtbt one man can
possibly 10 tmother their liws.
I ask u1l4nimoUJ consent 10 include in these rtmarlu II copy of
the resolution of thue 10Yili American Ilv/alors.
The SPEAKER: Is thert Ilny obj,ctlon to 1M requesl of 'he
,tntlewomlln from Ohio?
There was no objection.
40
(fhe matter referred to follows:)
RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE
OF AMERICAN AIRMEN TO AID CENERAL MIHAILOVICH
AND THE SERBIAN PEOPLE, WASHINGTON, MAY I, 1'".
Wher"s we, official deleptts of the National Commillee of
American Airmen to Aid General Mihailovich and the Serbian
People, have come to our Nation's Capital from all parts of the
United States at our own expense. In order to present to the
President of the United States and to the Acting Secretary of State
our very considerable evidence upon behalf of the Allied General
Drau Mihailovich, of Yugoslavia, who has saved the lives of our
delegation and the more than 600 additional Allied airmen whom we
represent.
Whereas we have sought in vain to present at "toplevel"(that is,
to the President and the Acting Secretary of State) positive and
documented disproof of the charges made by Marshal Tito, of
Yugoslavia, that Mihailovich is a "'traitor'" or "collaborationist;"
Whereas we have been denied this right formally to petition. at
first hand. our Commander in Chiefpc:rsonaUy to intervene 10 insure
that we be subpoenaed as material witnesses. and that testimony of
Allied personnel attached to Mihailovich'l headquarters in wartime
Yugoslavia be submitted to the trial court;
Where .. , in addition. we have been denied the right personally
to ask of our President and Commander in Chief and the act ing chief
e:ucutive of our Department of State that all documents from the
files of the State and War Departments be ad milled in the trial of
General Mihailovich: Therefore be it:
Raolved, That we. representing the National Committee of
American Airmen to Aid General Mihailovich and the Serbian
People. despite the failure of OUf President personally to Innt w an
audience to hearourcaseat the end of this vital mission an omiuion
which we ascribe to the Presidential Secretariat - and despite Mr.
Acheson's flat refusal to receive us personally to set forth a case
which the State Department already has championed in a weak and
watery form, and despite the timorous and apparently insincere
attitude of the United States Government toward the: Tito reaime in
Yugoslavia. we shall unrelentingly continue the fiaht for a fair trial
and absolulejustice for Genenl Draxa Mihailovich. By this we mean
that we shall, in our home cities and home States and through our
Congressman and our United States Senators, continue
unfalteringly to insist upon a fair. interAllied trial for
without which American Veterans consider that international
.,
justice and morality have ceased to exist.
Nallonal Committee of American Airmen to Aid
General Mihailovith and the Serbian People:
Lt. William L. Rogers, Manteno, Ill.
Lt . Richard L. Felman, New York. N.Y.
Staff Sgt. Hal D. Souter. Milwaukee. Wis.
Lt. Oscar Menaker, Forest Hills, N.Y.
Tech. Sgt. Gerald E. Wagner, Roanoke. Va.
Lt. Donald F. Rice, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Lt . Charles L. Davis, Washington, D.C.
LI . Charles F. Gracz, Chicago, 111.
Staff Sgt. John F. O'Grady, Clifton, N.J .
Lt. George Salapa, Cleveland. Ohio
Tech Sgt. Gus T. Brown, Jr., Luling, Texas
Staff Sgt. Mike McKool, Dallas. Texas
Staff Sgt. David J . O'Connell, Chicago, 111.
Staff Neal S. Janosky. Milwaukee, Wis.
Lt. John E. Scroggs, Kansas City, Mo.
Lt. John P. Devlin, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Lt. Robert W. Eckman, Chicago, 111.
Staff Sgt . David E. LaBissoniere, Milwaukee, Wis.
Staff Sgt . Denzil Radabaugh, Masontown, W. Va.
(Congressional Record - May I, 1946: unquote)
As an American it was inspiring to observe and be part of the
workings of democratic government. We were 20 average American
citizens who believed firmly in a cause and carried our grievances to
our seat of government where we reeeived fullest cooperation.
Although our request to see President Truman was not granted,
our efforts were not without results. Shortly thereafter, our State
Department sent an official note to the Government of Yugoslavia. It
read in part:
" ... . A number of Iheu individuals (U.s. Airmen) and others in
the United Stotes who were closely associated with General
Mihai/ovich possess first-hand evidenct which cannot but haW! a
bearing upon the charges of enemy callaboration which the Yugoslav
A uthorities have indicated they will bring against General
Mihai/ovich.
The United States Government, in these circumstances, is confl-
dent that in the interesl of justice the Yugoslav Government will wish
to make suitable arrangements whereby the evidence of any such
persons who may so desire may be r e ~ n t e in connection with the
trial, said to be contemplated, of General Mihailovich."
42
In reporting from Washington on the State Department's note,
Neal Stanford, Staff Correspondent for the Cbristlan Science
Monitor commented:
" ...... General Mihai/ovich! contribution to the Allied cawe dOl!s
'101, however, have to ren entirely on Americans say-so. The Nazis
themselves !wve admitted Ihat the General and his Chetnib played
hovoc with their plans. Hitler has credited these Yugo!lav guerillas
with delaying his &lkan operations two months and thus upsetting
his whole war schedule.
The least Washington can do in General Mihailovich! defense is
to assure afair trial, it isfelt here. For it can be argued that the Unired
States is partly to blame for his present plight in that it ditched his
Government, following a Big Three conference, and backed
Moscow! choice for Yugoslav leader, Marshall TiIO.
On returning to New York from Washington. a group of prom i-
nent Americans took up our cause and formed the "Committee for
Fair Trial for Draza Mihailovich." Members of the Committee
included such famous personages as: Sumner Welles, Gov. Frank
Lausche (Ohio), Bishop William Manning, Justice Ferdinand
Pecora, William Phillip Simms, Dorothy Thompson, Rep. Clare
Booth Luce, Norman Thomas, Justice Francis Rivers, Miriam
Hopkins and many other distinguished American citizens. The long
list of signatories who lent their names and support to the committee
in the interests of justice were: Governors Griswold (Nebr.), Willis
(Ky.), Stevenson (Texas), Gruening (Alaska), Senators Hart
(Conn.), LaFollette (Wis.), O'Mahoney (Wyo.), Taft (Ohio),
Tydings (MD), Young (N.D.), Representatives Lesinaki (Mich.),
.Plumley (Vt.), Voorhis (Cali!.), Mansfield (Mont.), Mundt (S.D.),
Hale (Me.), and Almong (Va.).
The executive chairman of the Committee, Ray Brock (former
New York Times foreign correspondent) disclosed that Morris L.
Ernst, the noted lawyer, had offered to defend Mihailovich and
would fly to Europe to appeal to the Yugoslavian Government.
With public indignation rising and protesti pouring in from all
over the country, our State Department dispatched a second formal
note to Tito requesting an urgent reply. Stanoij Simitch.
Yugoslavian Foreign Minister advised our State Department that
the second note, and any subsequent nOles "would ~ ignored." At
the time, Yugoslavia was receiving 90% of her economic subsistence
from the United States.
43
0/ Mi/ill"y Minion lind IUlITd
on the 0/ II bumt down house .
..
Witb aU hopes of our testifying in Belgrade apparently lost, the
Committee for a Fair Trial requested that an impartial public
hearing be held and a report submitted for presentation at the
8eJarade trial. Immediately a Commission of Inquiry in the Case of
Orau Mihailovich was formed. The Commission was composed of
four of the most prominent jurists in America - Arthur Garfield
Hayes, Chairman; Former ASlt. Secretary of State Adolph A. Berle;
former Lt. Gov. of N.Y., the Hon. Charles Poletti; and Theodore
Kiendl.
The Commission of Inquiry convened on May 17, 1946 at the
County Lawyers Association Bldg., 14 Vesey Street, New York.
Invited was aU evidence both pro and con pertaining to the charp of
collaboration apinst Mihailovich.
Three other American flyers, besides myself, appeared before
the Commission and told of our experiences in Yugoslavia and of
being rescued by Mihailovich. Substantiating our testimony, we
offered in evidence the three hundred depositions of other American
Airmen. Additional testimony was furnished by the six former
officers of the Office of Strategic Services who were working as
liaison officers with Mihailovich at different times throughout the
entire war. (Colonel Robert McDowell, Chief of the final American
mission; Capt. George Musulin, Capt. Nick Lalicb, Capt. Eli
Popovich, Capt. Denni Desich and Lt. E. R. Kramer). All former
American ass officers and crewmen were most emphatic in their
testimony that at no time did they observe even the slightest evidence
of Draza Mihailovich's collaboration with the enemy. Throughout
the entire period of the war, at least one of the ass who testified was
virtually at Mihailovich's side.
As an interesting sidelight of the Inquiry, during the time that I
was on the stand, a representative ofthe TASS News AleneJ walked
in and proceeded to take notes. At the completion of my testimony I
stepped down and openly invited him to take the stand. He lost no
time in walking out of the courtroom.
For a full week the Commission heard the evidence. Their full
findings together with almost six hundred pages of testimony was
forwarded to the Government of Yugoslavia for presentation at the
trial. Their report, in part, read as follows :
We are convinced .halthe testimony given before us u ma,eri-
a/ on the question of the guilt or innocence 0/ General
Mihallovich OJ a werr criminal and tha, under sltmdortU of
justice which hove been recognized by civilized no,lollS
throughoutlhe yeors, 1M uc/wion of such ,es,imony/rom the
Irial of the chorges ogoinst Genera/ Mlhoilovich would be so
.5
highly prejudicial as to prewnt the ponibility ofhis obtaining a
fair trilli. "
By their unstlftsh efforts in the interests of justice and law, the
voluntary Commission had established a proud and noble precedent.
Never before in the long history of intemationallaw has a report of
this nature been prepared. The YUloslavian Government, as
expected, ignored the Report, but by 10 doing. only served to
underscore their false charges.
The foUowin. editorial appeared in the Ntw York Times, May
31:
TITO AND HIS PRISONER
cause of afair trialfor Draza Mihailovich prob-
ably is a lost cause. TMre is little to hope that the 7Tto
or YugoslavIa inundJ 10 hud of our
GowrnmMt or of the many Allied who to him
and his Cltemiks. It intends to find him gui/ty of collaboration with
the Germans and hang him or shool him.
This much as bun done. however. by the in his behalf and
the hearing given United States by Commission of
Inquiry headed by Arthur Garfield A record has bun
for history. That will small solacefor Mihailovich as he gMS 10 his
death. But it will serve 10 if il does not entirely clear his
memory."
On June 10, 1946. Mihailovich stood before a "court of law" in
Belarade on charles of War collaboration and treason. What
followed was a mockery of justice as we in the civilized world know it.
The charges were typical of Communist expediency, the trial typical
of Communist technique and the sentence typical of Communist
treachery. '
Jwt before sentence was pronounced. a tired, battered and
drugged Mihailovich stood before the bench. His last public words
were: "I wtJnud nothing for myself. ... / wtJmed the old
Yugos/tJvia, but I htJd tJ difficult . ... I had against me a
comjHlilive orglmization. the Communislparty. which suksilSaims
without compromise . . . I I was on the right road and
on any fouign journalist or Red Army Minion to visit and su
everything. Butfale was merciless to when it threw me imo this
maelstrom. I wamed much. I started much. but the gale oflhe world
carried away me and my work."
On July 11, 1946, a Communist firing SQuad carried out the sen-
tence of the court. The blackest chapter of World War II had been
written.
TII MOVING FINGER WRITES-