One of the (UNMO) Airfield Monitors’ tasks, in Belgrade, was to inspect and clear the airlift of medical evacuations (MEDEVAC) in/out Belgrade to in/out Bosnia. The civilians wounded in Bosnia’s war zone were flown to Belgrade in order to be assisted at the very competent and well organized Yugoslav hospital system. However, those MEDEVAC flightsContinuar lendo “UNPROFOR Airfield Monitors -Inspecting MEDEVACs”
Arquivos da tag:war
Scenes from a past war – Sarajevo 1995
Back in 1995, Sarajevo had no electricity, no gas and no water distribution system operational. Living among the population, the UN Military Observers (UNMO) had to suffer the same restrictions and solve the same problems of the locals. Going out for water replenishment was particularly interesting. The water collection point was located inside of aContinuar lendo “Scenes from a past war – Sarajevo 1995”
“The need sharpens the ingenuity” (Gorazde 1992/95)
Bosnia Herzegovina – Right after the Cease Fire became in force (11OCT95), the UNMO team of UNPROFOR HQ (Sarajevo) got tasked to verify and monitor its implementation on the roads Sarajevo – Pale – Gorazde. Gorazde was a besieged city; there was no one to collect the garbage and nowhere to deposit it. Only theContinuar lendo ““The need sharpens the ingenuity” (Gorazde 1992/95)”
Returning Home, still breading “War smokes”
When we return from a long mission peacekeeping in a conflict area, the re-adaptation to the family environment and to a peaceful civilian atmosphere is not always easy to handle. Little things – such as the proper/civilized way to address other people – have got to be readjusted. The tone in which we talk, theContinuar lendo “Returning Home, still breading “War smokes””
The way I saw the events in Srebrenica 1995
In July 1995, the most discussed issue in UNPROFOR’s corridors was Srebrenica. After the fall of Krajina’s Sector West, in May 1995, the entire situation in Bosnia reached a tipping pint; for the worst! The Serbian residents of the other sectors of the Krajina started to abandon their lands, fearing the same destiny as SectorContinuar lendo “The way I saw the events in Srebrenica 1995”
O massacre de Srebrenica
Em julho de 1995 o assunto mais sério que se debatia na UNPROFOR eram os acontecimentos de Sebrenica. No início da guerra na Bósnia, em 1992, a pequena Cidade de Sebrenica estava dentro dos domínios da República Sérvia da Bósnia, e sob controlo das forças do Exército Sérvio (VRS). Posteriormente foi tomada pelo Exército (muçulmano)Continuar lendo “O massacre de Srebrenica”
Bosnian war economy – speculation of essential products
UNPROFOR Military Observers’ teams (like in most other UN missions) had to live among the population (mandatory). We could support our teams at the UNPROFOR military contingents, but we could not live inside those compounds. We were supposed to rent a team house and buy/prepare our own food. That particularity was due to the factContinuar lendo “Bosnian war economy – speculation of essential products”
Some lessons, you have to learn the hard way (Bosnia)
In my first land trip to Sarajevo (early August 1995), I was travelling in a UN vehicle with a Brazilian UNMO comrade. We’d been driving during the night, which was not advisable to do during the Bosnian War; hence we decided to stop and spend the night at the UNPROFOR Malayan Battalion (MALBAT) in Konjic.Continuar lendo “Some lessons, you have to learn the hard way (Bosnia)”
“Behind enemy lines” – the true story (how it happened)
The hot month of June 1995 arrived to the Balkans on a Thursday, while I was on night shift at Belgrade radar site, surveying the Bosnia No Fly Zone. Just when I was leaving the radar room, on the next morning, I noticed something strange was happening. All the Serbian controllers were very excited, butContinuar lendo ““Behind enemy lines” – the true story (how it happened)”
Balkans – people with more History than they can hold.
Once, a Yugoslav intellectual told me that, the people in the Balkans would always be fighting each other, because they had more History they could hold. –“You’re Portuguese; you will never understand the Bosnian problematic, because you’re the cultural result of “one single tribe in one same territory”. Here, people are from different tribes inContinuar lendo “Balkans – people with more History than they can hold.”
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