{"id":41232,"date":"2025-12-02T14:42:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T13:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/?post_type=news&p=41232"},"modified":"2025-12-02T14:45:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T13:45:10","slug":"president-milanovic-at-the-commemoration-of-the-fallen-croatian-pilots-in-otok-this-was-courage-of-a-special-kind","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-at-the-commemoration-of-the-fallen-croatian-pilots-in-otok-this-was-courage-of-a-special-kind\/","title":{"rendered":"President Milanovi\u0107 at the Commemoration of the Fallen Croatian Pilots in Otok: This was courage of a special kind"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cThese four heroes deserve a special chapter in the great story that has been written and retold for years. They died 34 years ago, and as long as we remember them, something continues to flow among us \u2013 in a way, they remain alive. Alive just like the small number of people who defended Croatia in 1991, because we often say that Croatia was defended by a few good people. Later, it was liberated by a somewhat larger number of good people, but those who were here at the very beginning were a small and rare group,\u201d said the President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Zoran Milanovi\u0107 at today\u2019s commemoration of the 34th<\/sup> anniversary of the deaths of Croatian Air Force pilots Marko \u017divkovi\u0107 and Mirko Vuku\u0161i\u0107, paratroopers Rade Griva and Ante Plazibat, as well as 27 Croatian defenders and civilians from Otok.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u017divkovi\u0107, a MiG-21 pilot with a great flying career ahead of him, and Vuku\u0161i\u0107, who flew another supersonic aircraft \u2013 these were men who placed themselves in heroic service and loyalty to the Croatian state. Their chances of survival were small. With full respect for all fighters, pilots are solitary figures \u2013 a special kind of people. Anyone who had the courage and audacity to fly for Croatia, for his family and his country, in agricultural planes made of canvas and wood, with a target drawn on his forehead the entire time \u2013 that is courage of a special category. And for that, glory to them; we will never forget them. Faithful to the homeland,\u201d President Milanovi\u0107 said in his address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commemoration of the 34th<\/sup> anniversary of the deaths of pilots Marko \u017divkovi\u0107 and Mirko Vuku\u0161i\u0107 and paratroopers Rade Griva and Ante Plazibat began with the laying of wreaths and the lighting of candles at the monument in the centre of Otok near Vinkovci. They were the first Croatian airmen to fall in the Homeland War. The four members of the First Independent Air Platoon from Osijek were killed while carrying out a combat mission on the night of 2 December 1991, near Otok, when their aircraft was shot down by a surface-to-air missile fired by the air defences of the former JNA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside President Milanovi\u0107, wreaths were laid and candles lit by family members and relatives, their comrades, and numerous delegations. Tribute was also paid to the 27 Croatian defenders and civilians from Otok who were killed or went missing in the Homeland War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Milanovi\u0107 was accompanied by Marijan Marekovi\u0107, Adviser to the President of the Republic for Homeland War Veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n \n <\/a>\n \n <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia \/ Filip Glas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThese four heroes deserve a special chapter in the great story that has been written and retold for years. They died 34 years ago, and as long as we remember them, something continues to flow among us \u2013 in a way, they remain alive. Alive just like the small number of people who defended Croatia in 1991, because we often say that Croatia was defended by a few good people. Later, it was liberated by a somewhat larger number of good people, but those who were here at the very beginning were a small and rare group,\u201d said the President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Zoran Milanovi\u0107 at today\u2019s commemoration of the 34th anniversary of the deaths of Croatian Air Force pilots Marko \u017divkovi\u0107 and Mirko Vuku\u0161i\u0107, paratroopers Rade Griva and Ante Plazibat, as well as 27 Croatian defenders and civilians from Otok.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":41231,"template":"","news-cat":[12],"class_list":["post-41232","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-cat-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPresident Milanovi\u0107 at the Commemoration of the Fallen Croatian Pilots in Otok: This was courage of a special kind - President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-at-the-commemoration-of-the-fallen-croatian-pilots-in-otok-this-was-courage-of-a-special-kind\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"President Milanovi\u0107 at the Commemoration of the Fallen Croatian Pilots in Otok: This was courage of a special kind - President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cThese four heroes deserve a special chapter in the great story that has been written and retold for years. They died 34 years ago, and as long as we remember them, something continues to flow among us \u2013 in a way, they remain alive. Alive just like the small number of people who defended Croatia in 1991, because we often say that Croatia was defended by a few good people. Later, it was liberated by a somewhat larger number of good people, but those who were here at the very beginning were a small and rare group,\u201d said the President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Zoran Milanovi\u0107 at today\u2019s commemoration of the 34th anniversary of the deaths of Croatian Air Force pilots Marko \u017divkovi\u0107 and Mirko Vuku\u0161i\u0107, paratroopers Rade Griva and Ante Plazibat, as well as 27 Croatian defenders and civilians from Otok.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-at-the-commemoration-of-the-fallen-croatian-pilots-in-otok-this-was-courage-of-a-special-kind\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-02T13:45:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/DSC_0207.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"3239\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1823\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/news\\\/president-milanovic-at-the-commemoration-of-the-fallen-croatian-pilots-in-otok-this-was-courage-of-a-special-kind\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/news\\\/president-milanovic-at-the-commemoration-of-the-fallen-croatian-pilots-in-otok-this-was-courage-of-a-special-kind\\\/\",\"name\":\"President Milanovi\u0107 at the Commemoration of the Fallen Croatian Pilots in Otok: This was courage of a special kind - President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/news\\\/president-milanovic-at-the-commemoration-of-the-fallen-croatian-pilots-in-otok-this-was-courage-of-a-special-kind\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/news\\\/president-milanovic-at-the-commemoration-of-the-fallen-croatian-pilots-in-otok-this-was-courage-of-a-special-kind\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/DSC_0207.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-02T13:42:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-02T13:45:10+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/news\\\/president-milanovic-at-the-commemoration-of-the-fallen-croatian-pilots-in-otok-this-was-courage-of-a-special-kind\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/news\\\/president-milanovic-at-the-commemoration-of-the-fallen-croatian-pilots-in-otok-this-was-courage-of-a-special-kind\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/news\\\/president-milanovic-at-the-commemoration-of-the-fallen-croatian-pilots-in-otok-this-was-courage-of-a-special-kind\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/DSC_0207.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/DSC_0207.jpg\",\"width\":3239,\"height\":1823,\"caption\":\"On Tuesday, 2 December 2025, the President of the Republic Zoran Milanovi\u0107 took part in the commemoration of the 34th anniversary of the deaths of Croatian pilots and paratroopers of the Croatian Air Force, and the defenders of Otok.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/news\\\/president-milanovic-at-the-commemoration-of-the-fallen-croatian-pilots-in-otok-this-was-courage-of-a-special-kind\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Vijesti\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"President Milanovi\u0107 at the Commemoration of the Fallen Croatian Pilots in Otok: This was courage of a special kind\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107\",\"description\":\"Just another WordPress site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.predsjednik.hr\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"President Milanovi\u0107 at the Commemoration of the Fallen Croatian Pilots in Otok: This was courage of a special kind - President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-at-the-commemoration-of-the-fallen-croatian-pilots-in-otok-this-was-courage-of-a-special-kind\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"President Milanovi\u0107 at the Commemoration of the Fallen Croatian Pilots in Otok: This was courage of a special kind - President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107","og_description":"\u201cThese four heroes deserve a special chapter in the great story that has been written and retold for years. They died 34 years ago, and as long as we remember them, something continues to flow among us \u2013 in a way, they remain alive. Alive just like the small number of people who defended Croatia in 1991, because we often say that Croatia was defended by a few good people. Later, it was liberated by a somewhat larger number of good people, but those who were here at the very beginning were a small and rare group,\u201d said the President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces Zoran Milanovi\u0107 at today\u2019s commemoration of the 34th anniversary of the deaths of Croatian Air Force pilots Marko \u017divkovi\u0107 and Mirko Vuku\u0161i\u0107, paratroopers Rade Griva and Ante Plazibat, as well as 27 Croatian defenders and civilians from Otok.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-at-the-commemoration-of-the-fallen-croatian-pilots-in-otok-this-was-courage-of-a-special-kind\/","og_site_name":"President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107","article_modified_time":"2025-12-02T13:45:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":3239,"height":1823,"url":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/DSC_0207.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-at-the-commemoration-of-the-fallen-croatian-pilots-in-otok-this-was-courage-of-a-special-kind\/","url":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-at-the-commemoration-of-the-fallen-croatian-pilots-in-otok-this-was-courage-of-a-special-kind\/","name":"President Milanovi\u0107 at the Commemoration of the Fallen Croatian Pilots in Otok: This was courage of a special kind - President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-at-the-commemoration-of-the-fallen-croatian-pilots-in-otok-this-was-courage-of-a-special-kind\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-at-the-commemoration-of-the-fallen-croatian-pilots-in-otok-this-was-courage-of-a-special-kind\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/DSC_0207.jpg","datePublished":"2025-12-02T13:42:07+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-02T13:45:10+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-at-the-commemoration-of-the-fallen-croatian-pilots-in-otok-this-was-courage-of-a-special-kind\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-at-the-commemoration-of-the-fallen-croatian-pilots-in-otok-this-was-courage-of-a-special-kind\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-at-the-commemoration-of-the-fallen-croatian-pilots-in-otok-this-was-courage-of-a-special-kind\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/DSC_0207.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/DSC_0207.jpg","width":3239,"height":1823,"caption":"On Tuesday, 2 December 2025, the President of the Republic Zoran Milanovi\u0107 took part in the commemoration of the 34th anniversary of the deaths of Croatian pilots and paratroopers of the Croatian Air Force, and the defenders of Otok."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/president-milanovic-at-the-commemoration-of-the-fallen-croatian-pilots-in-otok-this-was-courage-of-a-special-kind\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Vijesti","item":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"President Milanovi\u0107 at the Commemoration of the Fallen Croatian Pilots in Otok: This was courage of a special kind"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/","name":"President of the Republic of Croatia - Zoran Milanovi\u0107","description":"Just another WordPress site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/41232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.predsjednik.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-cat?post=41232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}