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"We Found Out The Truth About the Serbs...When We Were Shot Down"
www.generalmihailovich.com ^ | November 10, 2010 | Richard L. Felman/Aleksandra Rebic

Posted on 11/10/2010 1:28:21 PM PST by Ravnagora

Aleksandra's Note: Major Felman of the USAF is a very familiar name to many of you who visit this site. Many of you knew him personally, like I did, and counted him as a valued and dear friend. In honor of Veteran's Day and the 11th anniversary of Major Felman's passing just a couple of days after that holiday in 1999, I'm sharing one of the letters he wrote and sent out far and wide in the spring of 1996 regarding U.S. Policy in the Balkans, specifically the policy towards the Serbs. Although this letter was written 14 years ago, it continues to resonate today, especially for anyone who is aware of how misguided the foreign policy towards the Serbs has been for almost two decades now.

Richard Felman was a passionate man. He never said anything he didn't mean, and he never stood behind anything he didn't believe in. He believed in the Serbian freedom fighters, their leader General Draza Mihailovich, and the Serbian people from the day he hit Serbian soil back in 1944 until the day he died in 1999. And he made it known to anyone who would listen.

I wish more people in power in Washington had listened.

Sincerely,

Aleksandra Rebic November 2010

*****

World War II Rescued American Airman Defends Serbs

An Open Letter To Our Troops In The Former Yugoslavia From Over 500 MIAs Saved By The Serbian People During WWII

By: Richard L. Felman Major USAF(Ret)

President of The National Committee of American Airmen Rescued by General Mihailovich, Inc.

Tuscon, Arizona

Spring 1996

During World War II, we were on 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 about 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 Christians???... Could the State Department'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 here 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 us 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 experience 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.

Major Richard L. Felman U.S.A.F. (Ret.)

Spring 1996

*****


TOPICS: History; Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: mihailovich; serbs; usa; yugoslavia
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1 posted on 11/10/2010 1:28:29 PM PST by Ravnagora
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To: Ravnagora
Then the Serbs go and shoot down one of our F-117s.


2 posted on 11/10/2010 1:33:11 PM PST by Yo-Yo (Is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: joan; Smartass; zagor-te-nej; Lion in Winter; Honorary Serb; jb6; Incorrigible; DTA; vooch; ...

Ping!


3 posted on 11/10/2010 1:33:32 PM PST by Ravnagora
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To: Yo-Yo
Yo-Yo said:

"Then the Serbs go and shoot down one of our F-117s."

That would be one of the F-117's that was dropping bombs on the Serbs in the spring of 1999. Are you suggesting that the Serbs should have just allowed the planes to drop the bombs on them without a response?

4 posted on 11/10/2010 1:38:03 PM PST by Ravnagora
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To: Yo-Yo

After we bomb the s___ out of them.


5 posted on 11/10/2010 1:40:43 PM PST by Vinnie (You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Jihads You)
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To: Vinnie

Bill Clinton chose the targets. We bombed a Commuter Rail train. I saw the bomb cam view of it hitting a crowded train. I wonder where Amnesty International is?


6 posted on 11/10/2010 1:49:30 PM PST by massgopguy (I owe everything to George Bailey)
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To: Ravnagora
Interesting that the lies have been going on for two or three generations.

It's nauseating to see Kosovo occupied now by the Invaders. And we bombed Christian Serbia to force that on them?

One good thing about 9/11: sensible people are no longer living under any illusions about who the real enemy is.

7 posted on 11/10/2010 1:51:27 PM PST by Regulator (Watch Out! Americans are on the March! America Forever, Mexico Never!)
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To: All

b


8 posted on 11/10/2010 1:52:52 PM PST by Maverick68
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To: Regulator

Kosovo has often been described as “Serbia’s Jerusalem”.

I wish the Israelis had been there in Kosovo. They would never have allowed what happened to Kosovo to happen to Jerusalem. And rightfully so.


9 posted on 11/10/2010 1:55:20 PM PST by Ravnagora
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To: Yo-Yo
Then the Serbs go and shoot down one of our F-117s.

Whatever for, I wonder?

//////sssssss

10 posted on 11/10/2010 1:57:51 PM PST by San Jacinto
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To: massgopguy

They bombed a bridge.
A train happened to shoot into the crosshairs at the last moment.

Shit happens.


11 posted on 11/10/2010 1:59:52 PM PST by SJSAMPLE
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To: SJSAMPLE
A train happened to shoot into the crosshairs at the last moment.

In my experience, trains usually travel on railroad tracks as opposed to just darting out on a bridge from nowhere. Limits of available technology did not permit looking to see if a train was coming before the bomb was let go?

12 posted on 11/10/2010 2:04:48 PM PST by San Jacinto
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To: San Jacinto

Ask a lone pilot who’s flying at night while monitoring three or move MFDs and trying to acquire his target. Usually, intense focus is maintained during on that MFD and not on the periphery.

Unless, of course, you believe Clinton (and the pilot) had the kind of information and skill to target a specific train at a specific moment at a specific place.


13 posted on 11/10/2010 2:15:29 PM PST by SJSAMPLE
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To: SJSAMPLE

Oh, gee, an accidental atrocity. No way they should have ever shot back then.


14 posted on 11/10/2010 2:19:02 PM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (Go Packers!)
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To: SJSAMPLE
Unless, of course, you believe Clinton (and the pilot) had the kind of information and skill to target a specific train at a specific moment at a specific place.

The mission planners could have checked the commuter rail schedule, or arranged to attack that particular bridge on a Sunday morning.

15 posted on 11/10/2010 2:20:47 PM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (Go Packers!)
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To: Ravnagora

Someday Europe (and the rest of The West) will be confronted by the truth:

The Serbs had it right.

And when that time comes, they will also be confronted by the reality that in order to save themselves, they, too, will have to fight Islam with the same tactics that were used by the Serbians.

The Serbs knew what they were up against — and had known it for generations.

They knew what it would take to defeat the Islamic enemy within their midst.

And what did we do to them for knowing as much and acting to defend themselves?


16 posted on 11/10/2010 2:24:38 PM PST by Grumplestiltskin (I may look new, but it's only deja vu!)
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To: Grumplestiltskin

Well, Grumplestiltskin, you nailed it. I wrote as much back in September of 2001 right after the September 11th attacks.

I’m just AMAZED at how many “leaders”, who are entrusted with the well-being of the American people, CONTINUE to make excuses and apologies and justifications for Islam and its “extremist” followers.

The Serbians knew EXACTLY what they were dealing with. They tried to warn the world, and the world replied with sanctions, demonization of the Christian Orthodox Serbs, and bombs.

It almost makes my head explode just thinking about it.

*****


17 posted on 11/10/2010 2:30:48 PM PST by Ravnagora
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To: Yo-Yo
You mean the fighters that were ordered to bomb ancient, civilian bridges spanning the Danube, civilian utilities and marketplaces?

Was there ever a body count of the innocents Clinton ordered wiped out to break the back of the Serbs who were also being massacred by the Islamic terrorists posing as KLA freedom fighters?

18 posted on 11/10/2010 2:38:47 PM PST by Deb (Beat him, strip him and bring him to my tent!)
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To: Ravnagora

I had made up my mind while Slick Willie was in office that we were probably in on the wrong side of that war, in spite of the relentless demonization of Slobodon Milosevic (sp??). I became sure of it after Bubba left office and it became clear he was bought and paid for with huge speaking fees and contributions to his presidential library by the Saudis and other Muslim nations.

I don’t want to ever hear another Rat accuse anybody of being corrupt again . . . they have set the gold standard for corruption.


19 posted on 11/10/2010 2:40:54 PM PST by RatRipper (I'll ride a turtle to work every day before I buy anything from Government Motors.)
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To: Ravnagora

How to Stop Iran from getting the Nukes:

Trick the Iranian government into changing it’s name to “Serbia”.

If Iran changed it’s name to Serbia, NATO would bunker-bust bomb every nuke site in the country today!

Think about this:

Serbia was never an exporter of terrorism around the world.
Serbia never had a covert Nuke program.
At no time did any Serbian government state that any country should be “wiped off the map”.

What military action has NATO taken to prevent Iran from gittin a Nuke?—Zip!


20 posted on 11/10/2010 2:41:26 PM PST by Amerisrael
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