This is a letter from an old American pilot of WWII.
An Open Letter To Our Troops In The Former Yugoslavia From Over 500 MlAs
Saved By The Serbian People During WWII by Richard L. Felman Major USAF
(Ret) President National Committee of American Airmen Rescued by General
Mlhailovich, Inc. P.O. Box 17478, Tuscon, Arizona 85731 Tel. (520) 885-7005
During World War II, we were in the Army Air Corps list as "Missing in
Action" in the very same area you are now serving. If we may, we would like
to relay to you a frank, soldier-to-soldier message about our personal
experience while there - something which politicians who sent you there have
not told you and something which you have not read or seen in the anti-Serb
media.
In 1944, the members of our committee were flying bombing missions out of
Italy over Southern Europe. During that time over 500 of us were shot down
over enemy-occupied Yugoslavia and saved from certain death by the Serbian
people. Ours was the greatest rescue of American lives from behind enemy
lines in history but has been kept under wraps all these years because of
pressure from foreign sources.
While we were there, those of us who were wounded were given whatever
medical supplies they had even at the deprivation of their own troops. If
there was one piece of bread in the house, or one egg, it went to the
American airmen while the Serb went hungry. If there was one bed or one
blanket, it went to us while the Serb slept on the bare ground. No risk of
sacrifice was too great to insure our safety and well being. One experience
which is forever seared in my memory is the time a village with 200 women
and children was burned to the ground by the Germans because the Serbs
would not tell them where they were hiding us. To this day, I can smell the
terrible stench of their burning flesh. One does not forget such things.
The most incredible part of our rescue was that before each mission, our
bomber crews were briefed by the highest levels of American intelligence
that if shot down over Yugoslavia, we were to stay away from the Serbian
people as they were collaborating with the Germans and "cutting off the ears
of American airmen" before turning them over. Only after we were shot down
did we find out the amazing thoroughness with which the truth about the
Serbs was being distorted.
Further compounding this deception is the fact that while the Serbs were
our allies in WWII, Croatians and Muslims (who we are favoring today) were
allies of the Nazis, shooting at us and responsible for killing many of our
fellow American fliers. In view of the lies we were told about the Serbs
during World War II, we could not help but wonder if our foreign policy
there today is the same anti-Serb bias we encountered 52 years ago. Could
our career diplomats sacrifice former friends and reward former enemies in
the name of political expediency???... Could it be because in the world
community there are over one billion Muslims and only 9 million Serbian
Orthodox Christians with the same proportionate power in the global
economy??? Could it be because the Serbs have no oil wells and no unlimited
oil money?
Could it be because the Croatians and Muslims outspend the Serbs 50 to one
on lobbyists, media firms and campaign contributions??? ... Could this be
why, "atrocities" are manufactured to make the Serbs look bad while gaining
sympathy for their opponents???... Could this be why the Serbs are branded
"aggressors" in land they have lived on for over 600 years???... Could our
policy have something to do with the fact there are 540 members of Congress,
none of whom are Orthodox Chistians???... Could the State Departnent's
bitter bias, against General Draza Mihailovich, the anti-Communist guerrilla
leader who saved us, be based on the fact he was a Serb???
Could these be the reasons the State Department has covered up the truth of
our rescue all these years and opposed our petition to express gratitude for
saving over 500 American lives (a petition which is supported by the 8
million veterans of the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the
Air Force Association and which has been approved by the United States
Senate.)???... Could it be these are the reasons the Chairman of the House
Foreign Affairs Committee has also denied our petition by saying to us there
are "ethnic groups in Yugoslavia" who oppose it???...
Are we mad???... You can bet your next month's paycheck that we are mad!
We did not leave our families, risk our lives and watch our buddies get
their arms, legs and heads blown off so that "ethnic groups in Yugoslavia"
could tell us what we could or could not do in our own country.
Now that the spring thaw has set in, temperatures and tempers will start to
rise in the volatile area you now find yourselves. All we ask is that in
your dealings with the local people you be made aware of the eyewitness
experience of your fellow comrades-in-arms. By speaking out now we have
nothing to gain except a burning moral passion to tell the truth, a sworn
duty to protect our national honor, a patriotic desire to express heart felt
gratitude to those on foreign soil who save American lives while they are
fighting in defense of our glorious country.
Now that you have been sent to foreign soil and asked to risk your lives we
feel you should know the truth and not be "suckered in" by the rhetoric of
highly paid public relations firms, foreign lobbyists and self-serving
politicians who know absolutely nothing of the region's history.
We might also add that had it not been for the Serbian people, Air Force
General Donald J. Smith, our chairman and one our rescued airmen, would not
have survived the war and been able to dedicate 40 years of honorable
service to his country.
Had it not been for the Serbian people, technical Sgt. Curtis "Bud" Diles,
another of our airmen, would not be alive today in Dayton, Ohio, enjoying
retirement with his 4 children and 12 grandchildren... There are hundreds of
us with stories just like those.
Some of the greatest testimony to the many sacrifices made on our behalf is
the many thousands of American children who are alive today solely because
the Serbian people saved over 500 of their grandfathers during World War II.
Some of them could very well be serving with you today in Bosnia.
I was one of 3 rescued American airmen who returned last year to the former
Yugoslavia to commemorate the 50th anniversary of victory in Europe with the
people who saved us and to visit the cow pasture that served as a landing
strip from which we were rescued. The most moving xperience of our
sentimental trip was being cheered by over 50,000 Serbs who gathered at a
mountain top to welcome us and who kept chanting "USA, USA".
As American military men, we have a proud tradition of "duty, honor and
country" to uphold and a fierce sense of loyalty to those with whom we
fought side by side in combat. We never forget their kindness nor do we
return their battlefield sacrifices for us by bombing their women and children.
The Serbian people helped us when we were desperate and in trouble. Now
that the situation is reversed we can do no less.
Please keep these untarnished truths in mind as you now serve our country
and all it stands for, and may God bless you all as we pray for your safe
return.
Wit tha five centuries of penitentiary
So let tha guilty hang
In tha Year of tha Boomerang
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