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Yugoslav war criminal Slobodan Praljak reportedly died after his 20-year prison sentence was upheld by a UN war crimes tribunal and declaring he had drunk poison. “I am not a war criminal,” Praljak allegedly said moments before drinking from a small bottle of liquid amid gasps during the appeal hearing in The Hague, a city in western Netherlands.

The Mihailovich Monument in Chetnik Memorial Park at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Monastery in Libertyville, IL on a beautiful Summer evening in Chicagoland. Photo by Aleksandra Rebic June 22, 2017 THE MIHAILOVICH MONUMENT: NO TAKING DOWN OF MONUMENTS TO LEGACYWith all the focus on monuments and statues in America recently forced upon us by people with a political agenda, none of us should be surprised that monuments dedicated to General Draza Mihailovich have become a target. It was inevitable. We cannot be apathetic or take anything for granted. "Initiatives" to "remove" the General Mihailovich Monument at St. Sava Serbian...

The Mihailovich Monument in Chetnik Memorial Park at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Monastery in Libertyville, IL on a beautiful Summer evening in Chicagoland.Photo by Aleksandra Rebic June 22, 2017 ________________________________ Aleksandra's Note: The following presentation was made on July 26, 2017 by U.S. Congressman Ted Poe from Texas. Following the text is a video presentation published online three years ago reflecting the same theme. On both occasions, the remarks of Congressman Ted Poe were made publicly and therefore saved for posterity. So nice to see an American politician who recognizes the debt this great country owes to the Serbians. Today,...

SEVNICA, Slovenia — It’s a short book, just 42 pages and some filled with photographs. But it goes a long way in explaining the facts about the strong, proud people who carved a small but free nation out of the former Communist Yugoslavia and produced one of the most famous women in the world: Melania Trump. Author Sandi Gorisek doesn’t consider himself a writer, although he admits he is fond of dreaming up fairy tales to share with children. “I’m a storyteller,” says Gorisek, who makes a living as a mechanical engineer in a town just a few miles away...

Aleksandra's Note: On this website you'll find much information regarding Lt. Col. Milton Friend of the USAF, particularly in the way his life path has crossed with that of Serbia's legendary General Draza Mihailovich, both before the General's death and decades after his passing. Lt. Col. Friend has been directly involved in the effort to establish a monument in Washington, D.C. honoring General Mihailovich and his saving of over 500 American airmen in WWII, and in the Mihailovich rehabilitation process in Belgrade, Serbia that ended successfully in May of 2015. I'm reposting a news story here from 2010 in honor...

THIS WAS GENERAL DRAZA MIHAILOVICHThere is no grave site. There is no marker for his remains. It is as if they wanted to remove him not just from the earth but from the history of his country and the consciousness of his people. But they failed. Nowhere is this more evident than in those hills of Serbia they call Ravna Gora. And it is in those Ravna Gora hills where the true soul and spirit of Serbia can still be found. July 17th is an important day for those who knew who he was and what he did. His name...

Arthur "Jibby" Jibilian, O.S.S. and Aleksandra Rebic "Forgotten 500" Halyard Mission Reunion / Michigan June 2009. Photo: Rebic collection.This year, 2017, the world will be marking the 72nd anniversary of the end of World War Two, the era of the "Greatest Generation". For me, one of the measures of a man who dies is how deeply the loss is felt in the hearts of those who knew him, and if they didn't know him personally, were affected by his work or by his existence on this earth in a positive way. WWII OSS radioman Arthur "Jibby" Jibilian was short in...

The Chetnik Freedom Fighters as Immigrants in New LandsSerbian Chetnik immigrants in the UK in 1948. Photo courtesy of Andy Evans"What a difference time makes. Pictured are immigrants to the UK in 1948. These brave men were the first ones to stand up and fight against fascist rule dominating Europe in 1941. They had lost everything but decided to stay and fight for their homeland and democracy against overwhelming odds. For three years the Western Powers hailed the Serbian Chetniks as heroes until the winds of power altered direction and it was evident Communist Russia would be the liberator of...

Serbia's prime minister pledged on Friday that the Balkan country will never join NATO or any other military alliance as Serbia marked the 18th anniversary of the start of NATO airstrikes that stopped its crackdown in Kosovo. Aleksandar Vucic spoke at a ceremony near a railway bridge in southern Serbia where the Western military alliance's missiles struck a passenger train, killing at least 28 people and injuring dozens. "We will never be part of the alliance which killed our children, nor of any other alliance," Vucic said. "They wanted to destroy and humiliate small Serbia and kill its children."

One of those moments you never forget: 18 years ago, before the dawn on March 25, 1999, I stepped outside the door to find The New York Times there on the ground with the headline announcing that NATO had begun its bombing campaign against the Serbs in the former Yugoslavia on March 24, 1999. I remember looking at that front page of the paper before picking it up and thinking - "They are really doing it... It's no longer a threat... It's real... It's real... What a mistake... What a mistake..." Then I picked up the paper and went back...

Victims of Croatia's pro-Nazi World War II regime and their relatives are seeking $3.5 billion in damages in a suit filed in the US.Visitor walks past display at US Holocaust Memorial Museum (Reuters) Victims of Croatia's pro-Nazi World War II regime and their relatives are seeking $3.5 billion in damages in a suit filed in the United States, local media and officials said Monday. The group wants compensation from the Croatian government for property seized from ethnic Serbs, Roma and Jews, as well as for their suffering during the war, state-run HRT television reported. The suit was filed in a...

Melania Trump will become the first foreign-born wife of an American president in almost 200 years. On January 20, her husband, Donald Trump, will be inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States. Most Americans do not know much about 46-year-old Melania Trump. She was born in the former Yugoslav republic of Slovenia. It is a small country surrounded by Austria, Hungary, Italy and Croatia. It has a small coastline on the Adriatic Sea. Slovenia also has castles that are hundreds of years old, large forests and clear rivers. VOA recently traveled to the country to learn about Melania...

Aleksandra's Note: I sure wish OSS veterans George "Guv" Musulin, Arthur "Jibby" Jibilian, Nick Lalich and others were alive to see this!A great step forward in "official recognition" of rescue operations such as the HALYARD MISSION in WWII Yugoslavia which was made possible by General Draza Mihailovich, his Chetniks, and the Serbian people loyal to them.Bravo!Sincerely,Aleksandra Rebic***** Congressman Latta with OSS Veterans and their families House Passes Legislation to Honor OSS Veterans with Congressional Gold MedalPassage applauded by legislation authors, Congressman Latta, Senator Blunt, and Senator WarnerLegislation to honor veterans of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) with a Congressional...

SEVNICA, Slovenia — When Melania Trump was born in 1970, her small industrial hometown on the banks of the Sava River was part of Communist Yugoslavia. Forty-six years later, she is married to the next leader of the free world and the rural Slovenian town of Sevnica is embracing the success of its most famous citizen.

Montenegro says an investigation has shown that Russian nationalists were behind an alleged coup attempt on election day because of the government's bid to join NATO. Chief Special Prosecutor Milivoje Katnic said Sunday that the investigation leads to the conclusion that "nationalists from Russia" organized a criminal group that planned to break into Parliament and cause violence in the tiny Balkan country. Some 20 Serbian and Montenegrin citizens, including a former commander of Serbia's special police forces, were arrested in Montenegro during the Oct. 16 election.

Montenegro's chief special prosecutor has said "nationalists from Russia" were behind an attempt to assassinate the PM and carry out a coup. Milivoje Katnic said the plot involved killing pro-Western PM Milo Djukanovic with a professional long-distance sharpshooter. The plotters are accused of planning to break into parliament and bring a pro-Russian government to power.

It's been nearly half a century since the term "agony of defeat" joined the lexicon of American sports. To this day, the phrase remains a broadcasting staple, whether it's coverage of the Olympics or any number of sports. A Google search for "agony of defeat" returns nearly 500,000 results. With that in mind, we revisit the viral video that made an indelible mark on the sports world long before the era of social media -- the frightful ski jumping crash from the opening montage of "ABC's Wide World of Sports."

Authorities say a 25-year-old described as an Islamic extremist was arrested in a plot to attack sites around Tampa, Florida, after taking possession of disabled guns and bombs The U.S. Department of Justice announced the arrest of Sami Osmakac on Monday. Authorities say Osmakac is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in the former Yugoslavia. He has been charged with one count of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. His first appearance in federal court is scheduled for Monday afternoon. Federal officials say a confidential source told them that Osmakac wanted Al Qaeda flags. The federal complaint...

General Draza Mihailovich Belgrade 1946 The famous bridge over the Drina River in Visegrad, Bosnia. Photo: Creative Commons Aleksandra's note: 70 years ago, on the night of March 12-13, 1946 near Visegrad in Bosnia, the town made famous by Ivo Andric's classic novel "The Bridge on the Drina" published in 1945, the most decorated Serbian military officer and leader of the first successful uprising against the Nazis in all of occupied Europe was finally captured by the Yugoslav communist special security agents (OZNA) loyal to Marshal Josip Broz Tito after a long manhunt. A short time later the Yugoslav communists...

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called on opposition lawmakers in Kosovo on Wednesday to stop setting off tear gas in parliament, and on the young country to combat corruption, Islamic radicalism and ethnic division. In the Balkans for the first time as secretary of state, Kerry's brief stop in Kosovo underscored Western concern over the slow pace of progress 16 years after a U.S.-led NATO air war set the former Serbian province on the road to independence.