Presidential Decorations Awarded to Croatian Defenders of the 1st Home Guard Battalion of Pula

The delegate of the President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces, Special Adviser to the President for Homeland War Veterans, Marijan Mareković, participated today in Vodnjan in commemorating the 25^th anniversary of the disbandment of the 1^st Home Guard Battalion of Pula.

On this occasion, the delegate of the President of the Republic presented the decorations of the President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces to Croatian defenders of the 1^st Home Guard Battalion of Pula.

For their participation in the Homeland War, the Homeland War Memorial Medal was bestowed upon Miroslav Martinčić, Slavko Grbin, Anton Šarić, Darko Bačić, Gianfranco Bonassin, Mladen Crnić, Dalibor Cukon, Peter Dragomir, Boris Fotić, Rajko Ivošević, Rino Jadreško, Željko Jarić, Jadranka Jergović, Sajid Karaman, Slavko Kokot, Josip Mikuljan, Sergio Milotić, Egidio Moscarda, Dario Mračić,  Elio Orlić, Giovanni Ostoni, Franjo Pucić, Staša Stemberga, Vladimir Šetić, Đorđe Terzić, Ivan Tomičić, Anton Tonković, Tomo Žigri, and Bruno Žulić. For their participation in the Homeland War, the Homeland War Memorial Medal was posthumously awarded to Dario Bašić, Ivan Bašić, Dino Bilić, Svetoslav Bugarin,  Ivan Butković, Himzo Crnalić, Josip Fehir, Klaudio Janko, Sergio Jeromela, Silvestar Jug, Zdravko Kolić, Mirko Pereša, Damir Peruško, Zvonko Pitinac, Boris Purić, Miro Radošević, Klaudio Runko, Eduard Sanković, Mato Srdarević, Libero Šarić, Todor Trajčeski, Dragan Barašin, Ivan Butković, Bruno, Zvonimir Erdeši, Ivan Ivančić, Milan Kliman, Josip Kuharić, Anton Lekaj, Slavko Lovrečić, Aldo Mihovilović, Boris Mušković, Franko Pepoli, Edi Petercol, Vladimir Radolović, Boris Sinčić, Ferruccio Sorani, Livio Šćulac, Lučano Ukošić, and Marjan Žigant.

For his honourable and exemplary service, the President of the Republic awarded the Homeland Gratitude Memorial Medal to Boris Ružić.

The 1^st Home Guard Battalion of Pula was established by order of the President of the Republic of Croatia, Dr. Franjo Tuđman, on 30 April 1992, with the purpose of defending the city of Pula, the then Municipality of Pula, and potentially aiding in the defense of neighbouring municipalities. Its significance lies in being the first Home Guard unit from Istria County to serve on the Lika battlefield. The unit successfully completed all its tasks without suffering any losses and set an example for other units on the battlefield through its organization and conduct. It comprised four companies, with a total of 609 members, and more than 1,500 defenders served within its ranks during its existence. The battalion was primarily composed of conscripts from the former Municipality of Pula (Pula, Ližnjan, Medulin, Vodnjan, Marčana, Barban), but also included individuals from Rovinj, Pazin, Labin, and Lupoglav. The unit was disbanded on 13 July 1999 as part of the reorganization of the Croatian Army.

Aide-de-Camp to the President of the Republic, Colonel Vlado Čulina, accompanied the delegate of the President of the Republic and Special Adviser to the President for Homeland War Veterans, Marijan Mareković, at the award ceremony for Croatian defenders of the 1^st Home Guard Battalion of Pula.

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