28.05.2019.
Military Memorials Conferred to the Members of the 549th Motorised Brigade
Today, in the Hall of the National Theatre in Leskovac, members of the 549th Motorised Brigades and family members of killed officers, soldiers and civilians received military memorials on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of defence of the fatherland against NATO aggression.
War Commander of the 549th Motorised Brigade, retired General Božidar Delić, retired General Vladimir Stojiljković, Head of Department for Human Resources of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, Brigadier General Savo Iriškić and Commander of the Third Training Centre Colonel Slađan Cvetković conferred the military memorials to family members of the killed members of the 549th Motorised Brigade, wartime members of the Brigade who had been retired or transferred and active members of the Third Training Centre which is the legal successor of the Brigade of Prizren.
Addressing the present, Commander of the Training Command Lieutenant General Đokica Petrović reminded that this was the year when we celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the aggression against our country.- The scope of the forces engaged, the set objectives and brutal bombardment of our country is unrecorded in the hitherto history of warfare. Competence, moral strength and determination of our armed forces and people contributed to the force and continuity of the resistance preventing the enemy to achieve the planned objectives. Despite both technical and superiority in numbers of the enemy, the units of then Yugoslav Armed Forces through successful command, timely operational work, and application of disguise measures and rational combat activities, frustrated the enemy’s plans, and avoided destruction and prevented the entry of combat forces in the territory of our country - General Petrović emphasised.
He pointed out that the members of the 549th Motorised Brigade executed their combat tasks in Kosovo and Metohija in the most complex and militarily speaking, the toughest combat conditions, fighting against Shiptar terrorist forces in the field and against air forces of NATO Alliance.
- The great combat engagement, dedication and professionalism of the unit members is confirmed by 68 killed and a higher number of wounded members of the 549th Motorised Brigade - General Petrović stressed.
Speaking about the importance of today’s gathering, War Commander of the 549th Motorised Brigade retired General Božidar Delić expressed his satisfaction with the opportunity to meet his comrades-in-arms and spouses, parents and children of those fallen in the heroic defence.- The military memorials are important, both for the members of the Brigade and their families and descendants since they will be a testimony to the war times when they were called to defend their fatherland and to discharge their commitment in the most honourable way - General Delić explained.
Today, the military memorial was also conferred to Jelica Erdeljan, the spouse of killed First Sergeant Sava Erdeljan, and she expressed her pride in receiving the military memorial for everything that her husband had done to defend his country.
Vesna Stefanović, sister of the nurse, Slađana Stefanović, who had died on Paštrik, stressed that the military memorial would remind her family and the generations to come of Slađana and her deeds, but it would also make them sorrowful because she was not with them.
Speaking about this day, Master Sergeant Dejan Ilić highlighted that it was often difficult to find suitable words to describe the war events the right way, adding that he believed that the military memorials would testify for a long time to everything that they had done to defend the country in Kosovo and Metohija.
At today’s gathering, Lieutenant Tanja Ilić recited poetry of Biljana Žikić Karađorđević who died in battles in Kosmet in 1999. The ceremony was also attended by representatives of local government, Serbian Orthodox Church, Ministry of Defence and Serbian Armed Forces, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice and numerous guests.
