Croatia celebrates Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day

(Patria) - When we start, the sky and the earth will burn! These are the words of Andrija Matijaš Pauk who, with the tank crews of the Fourth Guards Brigade and the Varaždin Puma tank crews, was among the first on this day 29 years ago to enter liberated Knin.

These very words describe the motivation of Croatian soldiers who, after four years of terror, killings and looting by Serbian rebels, set out to liberate a fifth of Croatia's occupied territory.

The celebration in Knin began at 6:30 with a reveille through the city streets. The central ceremony at the Dinara Football Club stadium starts at 9:40.

Nine hundred members of the Croatian Armed Forces took part in the preparations, and, among other things, Rafali will roar over Knin today.

Today, August 5, the solemn commemoration of Victory and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and Croatian Veterans Day will be held in Knin. This anniversary is dedicated to the memory of the Military-Police Operation Storm, which 29 years ago returned the entire territory, except for eastern Slavonia, to the Croatian constitutional and legal order. The operation liberated 14 percent of the total area of the Republic of Croatia.

The ceremony will begin with the laying of wreaths and lighting of candles in memory of fallen defenders. The main part of the program will be held at the Knin fortress and stadium in Knin, where appropriate speeches by the state leadership and military-acrobatic displays will be held.

The arrival of high officials is expected, including the President of the Republic of Croatia, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, and numerous ministers, deputies and representatives of veterans' associations.

In just 85 hours of the Military-Police Operation Storm, in which nearly 200,000 Croatian soldiers and police officers were engaged, 243 Croatian defenders were killed, 1,430 were wounded, and two defenders are still listed as missing.

The Military-Police Operation Storm liberated more than 11,000 square kilometers of previously occupied territory, the Croatian Armed Forces achieved all set goals and enabled the realization of Croatian sovereignty, independence and freedom.