Commander Hajro's wife Radenka also went to the battlefield with him

Teočak residents today mark the 22nd anniversary of the death of Hajrudin Mešić, a commander whom the local population celebrates as a hero who, during the attack of the Yugoslav People's Army on Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992, managed to organize the defense of Teočak and surrounding places, writes the Bosnian news agency Patria (NAP).

Mešić was known among the soldiers in Teočak as Captain Hajro, and they also remember him because, in the first defensive-liberation actions through the forests on the route from Ugljevik towards Teočak, his unit was accompanied by his wife Radenka and their two minor children - son Zlatan and daughter Lejla.

According to internet forums dedicated to fallen fighters and commanders of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hajrudin Mešić's wife and children were in Subotica, Serbia, during the first days of the conflict on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- They spoke on the phone and he said they were going to Germany. Rada did not want to hear about it and told him she was coming to him, that she was not afraid of barricades or Chetniks: „I want to be with you“ - recounted Mešić's son Zlatko.

Džavad Avdičević Babak, who would later become Mešić's deputy, said that the fact that the commander brought his wife and children along with their unit spoke volumes about how determined he was to fight for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- If he sacrificed his wife and children, whom we carried in shifts, it was clear to us how great his determination to fight was. That gave us a dose of courage to eliminate fear…

Mešić was born in Srednja Trnova near Ugljevik. After finishing primary school, he attended and completed the non-commissioned officer school of the JNA in Sarajevo. During his service in the JNA, he completed the JNA military academy in Belgrade and received the rank of captain. He experienced the first conflicts in the area of the former Yugoslavia in Karlovac, Croatia, after which he came to the position of commander of the CJB Ugljevik.

However, soon after soldiers from Serbia occupied Bijeljina and Zvornik, he organized the Territorial Defense, and was the first commander of the 1st Teočak Brigade.

According to the book „Zvornik from Elections to Dayton“, Teočak was surrounded for a long time, but Serbian soldiers were in no hurry to attack, calculating that it was already their territory.

When the Bosniak people of the Teočak region were threatened with mass deportation to concentration camps and other suffering, Commander Mešić broke through with the army from Ugljevik to Teočak and organized the defense of this place, thereby cutting off an important communication line for Serbian soldiers: Bijeljina – Priboj.

The fighters of Teočak resisted the most elite units from SAO Semberija and Majevica, aided by units from Serbia and Montenegro. Recognizing the strength of the insurgent-defensive movement that caused unrest and insecurity in the heart of Serbian territory, Serbian leaders Dubajić, Mauzer, and others began addressing Hajro with respect – constantly offering negotiations and truces.

During that period, the communication line Teočak – Goduš was secured. For about 15,000 civilians in the Teočak region, this became a path of hope and salvation.

- If it hadn't been for Captain Hajro and his men, the concentration camps would have been filled with 15,000 new people, many of whom would not have survived – Teočak residents believe.

Hajrudin Mešić died on October 30, 1992, on the front line in the village of Nezuk, in an attempt to establish a corridor towards Srebrenica. He was posthumously awarded the Order of the People's Hero of the Liberation War of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, NAP reports.