'We could hear the burning': Canada's top soldier remembers the Battle of Medak Pocket

[dimsum]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/medak-pocket-wayne-eyre-yugoslavia-1.6961497

 

[OldSolduer]

I can recall the smell of smoke and the explosions that were demolishing houses in the area. The area was bereft of living things - people, animals, and even the insects seemed to be absent. I spent about 10 days inside the Medak Pocket. We did not know what the actual death toll was BUT our guys found corpses that had been burnt - and IIRC many had been tortured before death. I am not fond of a certain Balkan nation and its attempts to whitewash their own atrocity ridden military. And if I am being harsh, that is just too damn bad.

 

[medicineman]

I am not fond of a certain Balkan nation and its attempts to whitewash their own atrocity ridden military. And if I am being harsh, that is just too damn bad.

My neck hair still stands up when I hear them speaking...and have had to bite my tongue sometimes when I dealt with patients that were from said country. And I wasn't in Medak, but was kitty corner to it the next year - however have many friends that are messed up to this day because of it.

 

[OldSolduer]

My neck hair still stands up when I hear them speaking...and have had to bite my tongue sometimes when I dealt with patients that were from said country. And I wasn't in Medak, but was kitty corner to it the next year - however have many friends that are messed up to this day because of it.

One of my coworkers is a first gen Canadian and can speak and understand said language. I said they were an arrogant lot and she totally agreed.

 

[medicineman]

One of my coworkers is a first gen Canadian and can speak and understand said language. I said they were an arrogant lot and she totally agreed.

Yeah - as noted in the article, they still haven't come to grips with their past and refuse to, which is why I had objections to them joining NATO...but when you consider who were providing aid and assistance to them (cough cough US and Germany, cough cough), it's little wonder they got in and off as easily as they did. I was pretty upset when I saw their MP's show up on Camp Julien when we were building it in 2003 and blurted out something less than polite about it.

 

[KevinB]

At the US Embassy in Kabul, I worked with a dual national American who had been a Col in their Army (Not American) at that time, he was distinctly hostile to the PPCLI members of the team, as he blamed 2VP for wiping out one of of his Battalion’s, and he didn’t appreciate some of our jokes of aligning a pointer finger from the left hand and making a circle with the right hand to emulate a front and rear sight and wonder if we’d seen him before .

Also I questioned the logic of landing CAF flights there when some of our personnel where viewed as war criminals by their government…

 

[mariomike]

Haven't followed their politics.

But, certainly enjoyed my time in Novi Sad and Vojvodina during two visits in the 1980s .

 

[OldSolduer]

At the US Embassy in Kabul, I worked with a dual national American who had been a Col in their Army (Not American) at that time, he was distinctly hostile to the PPCLI members of the team, as he blamed 2VP for wiping out one of of his Battalion’s, and he didn’t appreciate some of our jokes of aligning a pointer finger from the left hand and making a circle with the right hand to emulate a front and rear sight and wonder if we’d seen him before .

Also I questioned the logic of landing CAF flights there when some of our personnel where viewed as war criminals by their government…

I’m that case Col can go fuck himself. Asshole.!

 

[FormerHorseGuard]

please tell us how you really feel about this highly promoted officer

 

[QV]

Colleague of mine was in the Medak. Needless to say he wasn't the point man on any of our dealings with the Croats in A'stan.

 

[medicineman]

At the US Embassy in Kabul, I worked with a dual national American who had been a Col in their Army (Not American) at that time, he was distinctly hostile to the PPCLI members of the team, as he blamed 2VP for wiping out one of of his Battalion’s, and he didn’t appreciate some of our jokes of aligning a pointer finger from the left hand and making a circle with the right hand to emulate a front and rear sight and wonder if we’d seen him before .

Our leave centre in Makarska was 3 blocks away from a Croatian Army Rehab hospital...as one of my colleagues on leave put, "I wonder if I put one or two in there last year...". That was really well thought out by the leave folks . Also, IIRC, a battalion of their marines were garrisoned not far away from there too.

 

[OldSolduer]

There was so much non thought put into that mission. All because “we have to do SOMETHING!!!”

And people wonder why I view the UN and its criminal accomplices with a jaundiced eye.

 

[RangerRay]

I had a few friends from my regiment and other BC regiments who were with 2VP in Medak. They didn’t have anything thing good to say about any of the ethnicities there, particularly the ones they faced at Medak. They were never the same when they returned and it’s a national shame how they were treated by our government. I will credit Her Excellency Governor General Adrienne Clarkson for seeing that this battle and those who fought in it finally did get some recognition.

 

[OldSolduer]

I should mention it was rumor only but a former corporal from the PPCLI was supposed to be in Croatia fighting on the Croatian side. Any of you heard of this?

 

[Ostrozac]

I should mention it was rumor only but a former corporal from the PPCLI was supposed to be in Croatia fighting on the Croatian side. Any of you heard of this?

Nick Glasnovic. PPCLI, then Foreign Legion, then Croatian Army. Ended up being a General, then a member of parliament for a while in Croatia. He was an HVO Brigade Commander during my first tour in Bosnia.

 

[medicineman]

There was a dude in our AOR that was driving around in a Chev Astrovan with Ontario tags still on it...saw it one day on the highway from Zadar to Split. IIRC, the Vice President at the time was from Mississauga ...

 

[KevinB]

There was a dude in our AOR that was driving around in a Chev Astrovan with Ontario tags still on it...saw it one day on the highway from Zadar to Split. IIRC, the Vice President at the time was from Mississauga ...

Well it used to be a solid hub for stolen (I really wanted to type stollen to see who'd get it ) North American vehicles...

 

[SeaKingTacco]

Love me a good stollen…

Nothing says “I am a second world despot” like driving around, gangster, in a Chevy Astrovan….

 

[lenaitch]

We had a member who quit and returned to Croatia to be part of the central government's security. I recall she had an uncle or something that was fairly highly placed back home. I imagine it was an awakening for many of the ethnic groups after the shotgun wedding that was Yugoslavia fell apart.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Nick Glasnovic. PPCLI, then Foreign Legion, then Croatian Army. Ended up being a General, then a member of parliament for a while in Croatia. He was an HVO Brigade Commander during my first tour in Bosnia.

Thanks for this - intriguing timeline on his web page ....

Biography

Službena web stranica - Željko Glasnović

zeljkoglasnovic.com

Number of young guys from the 807 area code headed there in those days to fight the fight. No word re: what happened to most of them.

Also interesting seeing leaders of the more nationalist Croatian parties touring Canada making sure Thunder Bay was one of the stops, especially for fundraising.