IN HONOR OF THE HEROES OF THE BOSNIAN SKY, THE ARMY OF RBiH AIR FORCE DELIVERED AID AND RESCUED THE WOUNDED WITH SUPERHUMAN EFFORTS!

By Emir Efendić

It was August 22, 1995, around 03:15 AM, a month and ten days after the genocide in Srebrenica.
I was on my guard duty at Badnjevi, they say there used to be a place of worship there, and at that time it was the defense line of the 803rd Light Mountain Brigade, 81st Division of the Army of RBiH, between Borovac and Klek, on the slopes of Jahorina mountain, then the "protected" UN enclave of Goražde.

It was a quiet summer night, the sky was clear and full of stars, only the occasional hoot of a squirrel and the rustling of a hedgehog searching for food on the dry forest floor could be heard, which in the deep mountains and quiet night makes the hair on your head stand on end and seems like five enemy soldiers are approaching.

The hedgehog would awaken caution and sharpen every human sense, the Kalashnikov would be silently uncocked so as not to click the metal safety, which can be heard far away in the night, until I determined that the hedgehog was looking for food.
I remember that out of boredom, I would count the seconds in my head, turning them into minutes, and minutes into hours, so that my two-hour night watch would pass faster without looking at my wristwatch, and when I did look, I would be surprised how much time had passed.

I was counting seconds like that until something else interrupted my counting, and that's exactly what happened that night.

A roar was heard, then something "thundered" behind Borovac, from the direction of Grebak and Trnovo. The sound echoed through the quiet night. At first, there was a moment of panic, thinking about what was happening, quickly sifting through thoughts about what it was, unclear, because the sound was coming over the hills.

It was the first time I heard such a sound near me that "echoed" through the hills, freezing the blood in my veins, there was no doubt that some "monster" was approaching our defense line.

As the sound approached Borovac, I realized it was some kind of aircraft, and at first, I thought it was an enemy one.
The sound began to circle Borovac and come from the southwest, from the direction of Jabuka, until it appeared in the area between Borovac and Stolac, but low, even lower than the height of Borovac. I had the feeling, only then could I conclude that it was a helicopter, the engines and the "clatter" of the rotors were clearly audible.

From the enemy lines of Stolac, Previla, Presjeka, Milotina, Kacelja, they started shooting randomly with various weapons, the sky began to be torn by tracer bullets and projectiles from various weapons. It was clear that it was a helicopter of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina bringing aid to us, and the enemy was trying to shoot it down.

The night was clear, stars were visible, although I tried, I couldn't see the helicopter, except that I could follow the sound of the engine and the "clatter" of the rotors, although the dense beech forest canopy also interfered. The relief was the realization that it was our helicopter, but at the same time, there was a knot of fear, wondering if it would manage to pass without being hit, because the enemy fire was so intense that I felt a bird couldn't pass without being shot down. Nevertheless, it passed and continued its flight towards Bare, about twenty kilometers from Borovac and Klek, and no change in engine sound or anything indicating it was hit was heard.

I heard that sharp sound for a few more minutes, as long as it took to fly to Bare, and then explosions and detonations were heard from the direction of Bare, when the sound of the helicopter stopped.

I had no idea what had happened, I thought it was enemy shelling from the direction of Gosin from Sokolac towards Bare, in which direction the helicopter had flown.

Unfortunately, bad news and disappointment came in the morning, we learned that the helicopter had crashed in Vučije Luke, near Bare, while landing, and that all members of the Army of RBiH who were on board had died.

This was shocking news for all members of the defense of Goražde, as well as its residents. The last hope for delivering aid to the defenders of besieged Goražde disappeared after the fall of Srebrenica and Žepa, because the enemy was preparing the same scenario for besieged Goražde, which we were all aware of.

My cousin Enes, may he rest in peace, who was a military policeman at the time, told me that he was securing the place where the helicopter was supposed to land. Fires were lit as a marked landing area, when the helicopter arrived, it stopped briefly above the marked area in Vučije Luke, then made a turn towards Gosina, then returned and stopped above the marked area at an altitude of about 70 meters. Then it tried to make another turn, got caught in the beech forest, and crashed. I think that was the last flight to the protected zone with a tragic end.

The first delivery of aid to the defenders of besieged Goražde, by order of the General Staff of the Army of RBiH, was carried out in a heroic feat by the Air Force of the Army of BiH on April 15, 1994, which coincides with the Day of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The pilot of the MI 8 helicopter, Colonel Džemal Malkić, may he rest in peace, the mission leader, along with his crew, pilot Mujo Mušić, and flight technicians Meho Ajanović, Izudin Šarić, Zijad Bašić, voluntarily signed up for this operation, even though they had less than a 5 percent chance of success.

They flew from Tarčin to the free territory of Goražde at dawn, precisely over the highest elevation of the free territory of Goražde, Borovac and Klek, where they were met with fierce fire from enemy positions.
According to the testimony of Izudin Šarić, flight technician, when they crossed the line and entered the free territory, they circled to find a landing location. Although there was no secured and prepared landing site.

Džemal Malkić, as the mission leader, did not give up on delivering aid to the defenders of the Army of RBiH in Goražde, not wanting to return the cargo to Tarčin without unloading it. In that haste at dawn, he landed the helicopter in the village of Bivalice below Hranjen, where due to the slope of the terrain, he could not land the helicopter completely, but it rested on one wheel on the ground while the other hovered in the air, while the crew unloaded the materiel, which the soldiers immediately found and took over. It was crucial for the defense of Goražde in the most difficult moments of the enemy offensive, which was directly commanded by war criminal Ratko Mladić above Površnica.

Colonel Džemal Malkić and his crew returned from Jahorina towards Tarčin, successfully completing the first mission of delivering aid to the defenders of Goražde. The flight lasted one hour and ten minutes, and was later carried out on several occasions to besieged Goražde.

On this day, in his heroic mission on May 7, 1995, while delivering aid to Srebrenica and Žepa, a helicopter of the Army of RBiH crashed, in which Colonel Džemal Malkić and his crew, pilot second lieutenant Enver Čokić and flight technician Izet Džambić, as well as several doctors and passengers, lost their lives. Also, according to testimonies, it got caught in the crowns of the beech forest and crashed during landing that night.

The feats performed by the pilots of the Army of RBiH, who in about seven thousand flights, hundreds of hours in the sky under enemy fire, transported thousands of tons of cargo, thousands of people and wounded, and finally gave their lives in a mission in the Bosnian sky in defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are being silently forgotten.

Almost nothing is written about them, almost nothing is taught, nor are streets, squares, settlements, etc., named after them... Nothing is filmed that would warn and remind future generations of the first heroes of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian sky. Their fearlessness, humanity, and skill in warfare in defense of the homeland.

There are no words of gratitude for the feat performed by Colonel Džemal Malkić, may he rest in peace, and his crew for delivering aid to the defenders of Goražde in the most difficult moments of our survival, nor are there words of gratitude for all the heroes of the Air Force of the Army of RBiH.

Data used based on available testimonies of participants, text written for instruction and remembrance of the bravery of Colonel Malkić, may he rest in peace, his crew, and all pilots of the ARBiH.