President Milanović at 3rd Guards Brigade “Kune” Anniversary Commemoration

“Croatian defenders are also liberators. It was necessary to defend, but it was also necessary to liberate Croatia. This was done by a few good people. We won, defended and liberated our country, and your role in this is enormous,” the President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Zoran Milanović said today in Nova Gradiška at a commemoration held in observance the 33^rd anniversary of the formation of the 3^rd Guards Brigade “Kune” [Martens].

“As time passes, so do those stereotypes that prevail in the heads and hearts of people, especially those who have not lived through (the events). And then someone gets the short end of the stick, someone like you. You have the right to talk about this. Do so, because a lot of things are stereotyped,” said President Milanović, explaining that some Homeland War brigades are not perceived enough by the public. He added that not enough is known about all the victims of the Homeland War. “Everyone knows about the massacre in Škabrnja and Nadin, but not about the massacre in Tovarnik, where more people were killed than in Škabrnja or Baćin, where 70 people were massacred in 1991. If you were to ask a random passer-by, they wouldn’t know. These are stereotypes, and someone always ends up unfairly wronged. And you have the right to the truth about the 3^rd Guards Brigade,” said the President of the Republic.

The commemoration of the 33^rd anniversary of the formation of the 3^rd Guards Brigade “Kune” commenced at the Memorial to the Fallen Croatian Defenders from the Homeland War, where President Milanović laid a wreath and lit a candle in memory of the Croatian defenders who died. The delegation of the President of the Republic at the wreath-laying included the Chief of the General Staff of the Croatian Armed Forces Lieutenant General Tihomir Kundid, Special Advisor to the President of the Republic for Homeland War Veterans Marijan Mareković, Chief of the Operations Directorate in the General Staff Major General Denis Tretinjak, Deputy Commander of the Training and Doctrine Command of the Croatian Army Colonel Dražen Batrnek, Deputy Commander of the Guards Armoured Mechanized Brigade Colonel Davor Josip Babić, and the Commander of the Logistics Training and Doctrine Center Colonel Mile Valentić.

The 3^rd Guards Brigade was founded on 29 April 1991 in Vinkovci and is among the four most elite Croatian brigades. About 10,000 members passed through the “Kune” brigade, 392 were killed, more than 1,000 were wounded, and 15 are still listed as missing. The members of the brigade, mostly comprising young men from Slavonia, made an immeasurable contribution to Croatia’s defense by shooting down the first three planes in the Homeland War, two of which were shot down in August 1991 in Vukovar. During the entire war, and especially in 1991, the “Kune” defended Slavonia and played a key role in Operation Flash. The “Kuna” tank company was also among the first to enter the liberated town of Okučani. The “Kune” took part in the defense of other, most challenging frontlines in areas including Osijek, Nuštar, Bijelo Brdo, Ivanovac, Erdut, Sarvaš, Dalj, Borovo Selo, Laslovo, Okučani, Gornji and Donji Bogićevci, Marinci, Tenja, Nova Gradiška, and other parts of Slavonia that were under aggression. As a result, the brigade was commended on numerous occasions and decorated with the Order of Nikola Šubić Zrinski, as well as with the Order of Duke Domagoj with Ribbon.

The President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation by the 3^rd Guards Brigade “Kune” Veterans’ Association on the occasion of the 33^rd anniversary of the brigade’s formation.

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Tomislav Bušljeta