US awards war criminal president, criminal, maintain, receive

tom

news/sw/detai...t.cfm?id=11255

A delegation of US war veterans posthumously awarded Serb Chetnik leader and war criminal Draza Mihailovic the Legion of Merit for saving 500 US pilots during World War II, in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the victory against fascism.
The administration of US president Harry Truman had listed Mihailovic to receive the award in 1948, but had delayed handing it over in order to maintain good relations with the then-Yugoslav Communist regime, which had convicted Mihailovic for war crimes.
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The Chetniks were followers of former Serbian King Peter II Karadjordjevic, who capitulated and fled to London in 1941 as World War II spread to the Balkans. Largely lacking unity, some Chetnik groups cooperated with the Nazis in their fight against the Partisans, led by Josep Broz Tito. They also fought against the Nazi puppet state of Croatia, led by the fascist Ustashe.
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Serbian Chetniks also perpetrated heinous war crimes against Bosniaks and Croats during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.

Wow , what  a stupid move this is .  Serbs have a mythological view of their history anyway, this will only reinforce it. Their myths were  one of the biggest causes for the ex-Yu wars, and this won’t help to look at things objectively.

The only reason the Chetniks saved  US pilots was because they were hoping for a US-British  invasion of the Balkans which would sweep the partisans and bring the king back in power. In the meantime  they were  happy to collaborate with the Germans and Italians and slaughter Muslims.


Wow a misleading thread title in this forum

Who would have thought !

Had you bothered to read the first sentence you would see it wasn't the US, it was a delegation of some US veterans
The medal is awarded by the US government, the veterans just got the “honor” to deliver it. I don’t think it’s some sinister plan, just something that wasn’t thought through.

Last week the Chetniks had their yearly get-together, for the first time sponsored by the Serbian government.

Their foreign minister said that  “ the Americans have now recognized general Mihajlovi#263;  as the great anti-fascist fighter that he was and it is  time for Serbs to do the same”

Originally Posted by aloisiusThe medal is awarded by the US government, the veterans just got the “honor” to deliver it. I don’t think it’s some sinister plan, just something that wasn’t thought through.

Last week the Chetniks had their yearly get-together, for the first time sponsored by the Serbian government.

Their foreign minister said that  “ the Americans have now recognized general Mihajlovi#263;  as the great anti-fascist fighter that he was and it is  time for Serbs to do the same”I don't get it.  If this guy was on the side of the Nazis, why was he helping US pilots?  Do you have information on the quot;war crimesquot; he was quot;convictedquot; of?

Originally Posted by GRUNTI don't get it.  If this guy was on the side of the Nazis, why was he helping US pilots?  Do you have information on the quot;war crimesquot; he was quot;convictedquot; of?

Politics and war make strange bedfellows, especially in the Balkans.  He was executed for war crimes by the Tito government in 1946.
He was helping US pilots because he was hoping for an allied invasion of the Adriatic coast .  Before ww2 he was the general in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which was backed by the British. What he really cared about was fighting the partisans to control Yugoslavia after the war. In that goal he had no problems collaborating with the occupiers.     

Here’s a link on the issue, I’ve just glanced over it, but it seems reasonable. enc...h/Chetniks.htm

Originally Posted by GRUNT...Do you have information on the quot;war crimesquot; he was quot;convictedquot; of?

Dragoljub quot;Drazhaquot; Mihailovich (#1044;#1088;#1072;#1075;#1086;#1113;#1091;#1073; #1044;#1088;#1072;#1078;#1072; #1052;#1080;#1093;#1072;#1080;#1083;#1086;#1074;#1080;#1115;, also #268;i#269;a, Draža Mihailovic), (April 26, 1893–July 17, 1946) was a Serbian general who became a war hero in World War I and who later led the Chetniks during World War II. U.S. president Harry S. Truman posthumously awarded him the quot;Legion of Meritquot; for the rescue of 500 American Airmen by Chetniks during World War II.

Mihailovi#263; went to the Serbian military academy in October 1910 and as a cadet fought in the Balkan Wars 1912–1913. In July 1913 he was given rank of Second Lieutenant as the top soldier in his class. He served in World War I and together with Serbian army marched to Albania in 1915 during the long retreat of the Serbian army. He later received several decorations for his achievements on the Salonica front.

Between the wars he became a staff officer (elite of Serbian/Yugoslav army) and achieved the rank of colonel. He also served as military attaché in Sofia and Prague.

His military carrier almost came to a abrupt end after several incidents, the most dangerous one being the idea of dividing Yugoslav army along nationalist lines into (Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes), for which he got 30 days imprisonment. World War II found Mihailovich occupying a minor position of assistant to chief of staff of the Second Army.

Following the Yugoslav defeat by Germany in April 1941, a small group of officers and soldiers led by Mihailovi#263; refused to surrender, and retreated in hope of finding Yugoslav army units still fighting in mountains. After arriving at Ravna Gora,Serbia on May 8, he realized that his group of seven officers and twenty four non-commissioned officers and soldiers was the only one.

At Ravna Gora, Mihailovi#263; organized the Chetniks detachment of the Yugoslav Army, which became the Military-chetnik detachments and finally Yugoslav Army of the Homeland (Jugoslovenska vojska u otadžbini).

The first Chetnik formations led by Mihailovi#263; were formed around Ravna Gora on June 14th,. The stated goal of the Chetniks was the liberation of the country from the occupying armies including the forces of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Ustase (the fascist regime of the Croatia).

However, he decided against a mass uprising because of catastrophical Serb losses in World War I, in which the Kingdom of Serbia lost a quarter of its male population to the war. Instead, Mihailovi#263; gathered logistics in men and weapons, waiting for an Allied landing in the Balkans. A WW I uprising leader and former Chetnik himself, Kosta Milovanovi#263; Pe#263;anac, opposed this view and opted for cooperation with the Germans against the Communists. Pe#263;anac and Mihailovi#263; became rivals, both claiming to the Chetnik heritage and with Pe#263;anac commanding a much smaller allegiance than Mihailovi#263;. Because of his open collaboration with the Germans, Pe#263;anac was shot in 1944 by Mihailovi#263; Chetniks for treason upon his capture.

The British Special Operations Executive were being sent to aid Mihailovi#263;'s forces beginning with the autumn of 1941. Mihailovi#263; rose in rank, becoming the Minister of War of the exile government in January 11, 1942 and General and Deputy Commander-in-Chief on June 17 the same year.

In 1943, the Germans decided to pursue the Chetniks in the northern zone, and offered a reward of 100,000 gold marks for the capture of Mihailovi#263;, dead or alive.

The Chetniks were forced to move to eastern Bosnia where they engaged in heavy combat with the Ustaše, resulting in several incidents of war crimes against people who supported the other faction. It is unclear however how much say Mihailovic himself had in these incidents. The Chetnik movement was highly decentralized, and in that way was more like a collective of many small regional guerrillas which shared the same name, rather than a unified army under complete control of Mihailovic and his staff.By the middle of 1943, the partisan movement had successfully survived an intense period of Axis pressure, while the Chetniks had almost entirely abandoned anti-fascist activities in favour of fighting the partisans. Consequently, at the Tehran Conference in November 1943, a decision was made by the Allies to cease their support of the Chetniks, and switch allegiances to Tito's Partisans who were the main anti-fascist resistance group in Yugoslavia.Towards the end of the war, Mihailovic went into hiding in East Bosnia. He was captured on March 12, 1946 by agents of OZNA (Odsjek Zastite Naroda — Department of National Security) . Tried for high treason and war crimes from June 10 to July 15, he was found guilty and sentenced to death by firing squad on July 15th. The Presidium of the National Assembly rejected the clemency appeal on July 16. He was executed together with nine other officers in the early hours of 18 July 1946, in Lisiciji Potok, about 200 meters from the former Royal Palace, and buried in an unmarked grave on the same spot. His main prosecutor was Milos Minic, later minister of foreign affairs for the Communist government of Yugoslavia and an ethnic Serb.

His execution was a sticking point in Franco–Yugoslav relations and Charles de Gaulle refused to visit Yugoslavia on account of refusing to meet Mihailovich's adversary Marshal Tito, whom he accused of de-facto killing his rival.

Due to the efforts of Major Richard L. Felman and his friends, President Harry S. Truman, on the recommendation of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, posthumously awarded Mihailovich the quot;Legion of Meritquot;, for the rescue of American Airmens by Chetniks. For the first time in history, this high award and the story of the rescue was classified secret by the State Department so as not to offend the communist government of Yugoslavia.

Almost 60 years later, on May 9, 2005 the daughter of Draza Mihailovic, Gordana was presented with a decoration bestowed posthumously on Draza Mihailovic by President Truman in 1948, for the assistance provided to the crews of US bombers that were gunned down on the territory under Chetnik control in World War II.
Aloisius, based only on what Mel posted, I find it dubious -- at best -- to claim this guy was a war criminal, let alone a Nazi-collaborator.  Tito obvisouly had motives for executing him.

As you appear to be of Croatian heritage, perhaps your time would be better spent illuminating widespread popular support in Croatia for the Nazis, their Ustashe collaborators, and the genocide they perpetrated against the Serbs and others.
I might inform you that the biggest chunk of the partisans were Croatians including Tito of course.  The other part did side with the Nazis and that was a terrible mistake.  T
Around 80 000 Serbs, Croatian communists and others were killed in the Jasenovac camp.

The problem is that Serb historians pumped up that number to 700 000 which was crucial in starting  the most recent war.
I considered opening the same topic, but said to hell with it. What's the point? I think Americans have enough of praising war criminals in their own yard. Or did you try to clarify the complicated Balkan past to them?
Leave subjects like this one to our home forums, because there is too much background with cases like this one. They're not able to comprehend much simpler things.