1장
The Untold Heroism of Operation Halyard
In the shadow of World War II's most celebrated stories lies one of its greatest untold rescues. Operation Halyard, the daring evacuation of 512 Allied airmen from Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia, remained classified for decades after the war. This wasn't merely another military operation-it was a testament to human courage that transcended political boundaries. The story captivated President Truman so deeply that he awarded its central figure, General Draza Mihailovich, the Legion of Merit medal, only to have the State Department classify the honor as "secret" for nearly twenty years. When Tom Hanks discovered the story while researching for "Saving Private Ryan," he reportedly remarked it was "too incredible even for Hollywood." This remarkable tale of Serbian villagers risking genocide to protect American airmen reveals how ordinary people can display extraordinary courage when faced with impossible choices.
2장
Parachuting into the Unknown
Clare Musgrove never expected to end up hiding under a bed in a Yugoslav village as German boots walked just inches from his face. Like hundreds of other American airmen, he had bailed out over northern Yugoslavia after his B-24 bomber was damaged during a mission to Romania's strategic Ploesti oil fields. These young men-many first-generation Americans themselves-found themselves literally falling into the arms of Serbian villagers who risked everything to protect them.
In OSS headquarters in Bari, Italy, George Vujnovich wrestled with the seemingly impossible logistics of rescuing these men. How could they send C-47 cargo planes to land in mountainous terrain with no proper airstrip, right under German noses? The challenge grew daily as more airmen arrived in the village of Pranjane. Despite the odds, Vujnovich remained resolute: "We'll have to make it work. We'll get them out."
For the airmen, their journey began with terrifying moments of desperation. Clare Musgrove found himself trapped in his ball turret as the bailout bell rang. When the power mechanism failed, he frantically hand-cranked for almost ten minutes while watching the ground approach. After finally freeing himself, he discovered his entire crew had already jumped. His parachute had been dislodged during the flight, and after attaching it and rolling out the side door, he pulled the rip cord only to find nothing happened. In desperate free fall from ten thousand feet, Musgrove dug into the pack with his hands, pulling out the silk until a pocket caught air and the parachute finally deployed.
These moments of terror were repeated across the skies of Yugoslavia as bomber after bomber fell to German defenses or mechanical failures. Each man floating down had no idea what awaited them in the foreign landscape below.
3장
Welcomed by the Enemy?
The American airmen had been warned repeatedly to avoid Serbian Chetniks at all costs. Military intelligence briefings painted these bearded fighters as Nazi collaborators who would torture and kill any Allied personnel they captured. So when Richard Felman found himself surrounded by fierce-looking men with long beards and bandoliers of ammunition across their chests, he was certain his fate was sealed.
Instead, he was embraced like a long-lost brother. "Americanski!" they shouted, offering him plum brandy and treating his wounds. Throughout northern Yugoslavia, similar scenes played out as villagers welcomed Americans with food, water, and even red carpets before sending them to guerrilla encampments.
Mike McKool feared for his life when villagers approached with farming tools, only to be smothered with kisses before Mihailovich's soldiers rushed him away from pursuing Germans. Thomas Oliver began his ill-fated May 6, 1944 flight with bad omens, flying a borrowed B-24 instead of his regular "Flying Mudcat." After bailing out, he landed directly onto a family's outdoor lunch, interrupting their meal but finding immediate protection.
The contrast between what they'd been told and what they experienced was jarring. These supposedly dangerous Chetniks were risking their lives to protect Americans. When Germans took twenty villagers hostage, threatening to kill them unless the Americans were surrendered, the Chetnik response was resolute: "The Germans will kill who they wish." No Americans would be handed over, regardless of the cost.
Throughout their journey from village to village, the Americans were overwhelmed by Serbian hospitality. Villagers offered their best food, homes, and beds, often going without themselves. As the Americans marched in columns half a mile long, locals lined the paths to see them, offering kisses on the cheek or cups of goat's milk. One airman was humbled to discover a mother and her children had slept with animals so he could have their bed.
McKool was particularly moved when an elderly woman grabbed his hand, kissing it fervently while sobbing. A Serbian officer explained: "Many of these people have lost sons to this war... They see you as their own children, Americans especially, because you come here to help us fight. That woman was kissing her son when she kissed you."
4장
A Desperate Situation in Pranjane
By summer 1944, hundreds of airmen including Oliver, McKool, Felman, Orsini, Musgrove, and Wilson had converged in the mountain village of Pranjane. With little to do except avoid Germans, the Americans spent their days whittling corncob pipes, smoking local tobacco, and helping villagers with fieldwork through "mass work" - collective farming where many residents worked one farmer's fields together.
Food was simple: whole-grain bread, cheese, milk, butter, and root vegetables, with meat being rare but always offered first to the Americans. The one constant was plum brandy, made from the abundant wild plum trees. Though often hungry, their cups were always full.
As weeks turned to months, depression set in. Were they forgotten? Would they ever make it home? General Mihailovich, who visited them regularly, was working diligently to get them home-both out of genuine concern and because he saw potential for Allied support against the Nazis and Tito's Communists.
Mihailovich sent regular shortwave radio messages with each airman's details to the Yugoslav government-in-exile in Cairo, which forwarded them to Ambassador Fotic in Washington. Despite Mihailovich's explicit requests for evacuation assistance, preferably American rather than British, the War Department recorded the information but took no action to plan a rescue.
The situation grew desperate when food supplies dwindled and medical emergencies arose. Richard Felman and other officers decided they had to risk contacting Allied forces directly, despite knowing a radio transmission could reveal their location to Germans. They sent their first desperate message: "SOS... One hundred fifty members of American crew have been waiting for rescue... There are many sick and wounded..."
After two days with no response, they realized they needed to prove their authenticity. Thomas Oliver developed two codes-a letter transposition system using insider knowledge from their bases in Italy, and a slang-based code referencing squadron-specific details like "Mudcat driver" and "Banana Nose." The complex code worked-a Royal Air Force operator in Italy forwarded the message to the Fifteenth Air Force headquarters where an officer recognized his men's references.
The airmen finally received a response: "Prepare reception for 31 July or first clear night following." Though initially jubilant, as days passed without further communication, the men's spirits sank, uncertain if rescue would ever come.
5장
The OSS and Operation Halyard
While the airmen waited in Pranjane, their fate rested with an unlikely hero-George Vujnovich, a Serbian-American OSS control agent in Bari, Italy. Born to Yugoslav immigrants in Pittsburgh, Vujnovich had studied medicine at the University of Belgrade before World War II erupted. He and his Yugoslav wife Mirjana had narrowly escaped the Nazi invasion, eventually making their way to America through a harrowing journey across occupied Europe.
When Mirjana, now working at the Yugoslav embassy in Washington, wrote about rumors of hundreds of American airmen being protected by Mihailovich, Vujnovich was immediately intrigued. Having himself been trapped behind German lines in Yugoslavia when war broke out, he felt a personal connection to these stranded Americans.
The Office of Strategic Services (OSS), America's wartime intelligence agency established in June 1942, was uniquely positioned for such a rescue mission. Unlike the rigid FBI, the OSS was designed to "enforce our will upon the enemy by means other than military action." Its founder, William J. "Wild Bill" Donovan, recruited an eclectic mix of agents-wealthy blue bloods alongside skilled killers, college professors alongside street fighters.
The OSS assembled perhaps the most unusual collection of spies ever-halls filled with DuPonts, Vanderbilts, Roosevelts, Morgans, and Mellons, plus Winston Churchill's cousin and Tolstoy's grandson. Notable members included Notre Dame fullback "Jumping Joe" Savoldi, circus owner John Ringling North, and future chef Julia Child.
For Operation Halyard, Vujnovich assembled a three-man team: George Musulin, a former University of Pittsburgh football star who had already spent time with Mihailovich's forces; Sergeant Mike Rajacich from Washington DC, who spoke the local language; and radioman Arthur Jibilian from Toledo, Ohio-a combat veteran who had already survived a mission in Yugoslavia with Tito's forces.
The mission faced immediate challenges from British interference. When Vujnovich attempted to lead the mission himself, President Roosevelt blocked him via telegram, citing "Former naval person" (Churchill) objecting to his presence at Mihailovich's headquarters. The British were adamantly opposed to any mission into Mihailovich's territory, as were the Russians, despite there being over a hundred Americans needing rescue.
On July 4, 1944, OSS Director Donovan wrote to President Roosevelt requesting permission to send rescue agents. In person, however, Donovan was blunt: "Screw the British! Let's get our boys out!" Roosevelt agreed, and on July 14, Lieutenant General Ira Eaker created the Air Crew Rescue Unit (ACRU).
6장
Politics and Betrayal
The political backdrop of Operation Halyard was as treacherous as the mission itself. Just two years earlier, Mihailovich had graced Time magazine's cover as "the greatest guerilla fighter of Europe" and had been voted Man of the Year by readers. His resistance against Nazi occupation had captivated Western audiences desperate for hope.
Yet by 1944, Mihailovich had fallen out of Allied favor, replaced by Communist leader Josip Broz Tito. This political reversal stemmed from fundamental strategic differences between the two resistance leaders. Mihailovich adopted a cautious strategy after witnessing Serbia lose a quarter of its male population in World War I. Rather than inciting mass uprising against overwhelming German firepower, he focused on building a strong force in the Serbian hills while awaiting Allied invasion.
Tito, meanwhile, launched aggressive attacks against occupiers regardless of civilian casualties. When Germans executed nearly three thousand civilians in Kraljevo and Kragujevac as reprisals for sabotage, Mihailovich became even more cautious, refusing to expose villagers to such risk unless absolutely necessary.
By November 1941, these philosophical differences erupted into open conflict when Tito aggressively attacked Mihailovich's forces. Both sides now fought a brutal civil war alongside their resistance against German occupation, with the outcome determining Yugoslavia's future-monarchist and democratic under Mihailovich or Communist under Tito.
What the Allies didn't know until decades later was that Soviet mole James Klugmann, essentially the sixth member of the Cambridge Five spy ring, had sabotaged Mihailovich's supply operations while working in the Yugoslav section of British SOE. From his position in Bari, Klugmann falsified information about Mihailovich's forces, exaggerated his transgressions, minimized his accomplishments, and glorified Tito's actions-ultimately helping hand Yugoslavia to Communist control after the war.
At the Tehran Conference in December 1943, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin agreed to withdraw support from Mihailovich and back Tito exclusively, despite Mihailovich's continued loyalty to the Allied cause. This political decision would have deadly consequences for both the rescue mission and Mihailovich himself.
7장
Building an Airstrip with Bare Hands
After five failed attempts to reach Pranjane-including one where British pilots nearly dropped the team into the middle of a firefight-Musulin, Rajacich, and Jibilian finally parachuted into Yugoslavia on August 2, 1944. The landing was rough but successful-Musulin crashed through a chicken coop, Rajacich got tangled in a tree, and Jibilian landed safely in a cornfield.
The airmen in Pranjane cheered at the sight of American parachutes and the U.S. Army star on the plane's tail, finally believing rescue was possible. The villagers erupted in celebration upon seeing Musulin, shouting "Captain George!" and embracing him enthusiastically. When Musulin met Felman, he discovered not 150 but 250 airmen awaiting rescue, with more arriving daily.
Musulin immediately focused on the landing strip construction, emphasizing the urgency and dangers of their situation with German garrisons nearby-4,500 troops just twelve miles away in Chachak and a Luftwaffe unit thirty miles away that could quickly discover them.
The landing strip presented a formidable challenge-a narrow plateau halfway up a mountainside, fifty yards wide and seven hundred yards long, surrounded by dense woods on one side and a sheer dropoff on the other. With C-47s requiring a minimum of seven hundred yards to land, Musulin stressed the dire consequences of failure.
Two hundred fifty airmen joined by three hundred villagers and Chetnik soldiers worked tirelessly, using sixty oxcarts to haul rocks and level the field. They worked with bloodied hands and few tools, sprinting for cover whenever German planes flew overhead. Some extended the strip by cutting trees while others hauled gravel from streambeds.
After six days of intensive work, on August 8, Musulin declared they were ready. Jibilian radioed Bari requesting six planes for the following night, and received confirmation. Musulin organized the evacuation order-wounded first, then by longevity in Yugoslavia, with bomber crews kept together.
8장
The Miracle of Rescue
As night fell on August 9, the chosen seventy-two gathered at the airfield hours early, joined by other airmen who came to witness the attempt and say goodbye. Villagers and Chetnik soldiers converged as well, creating a circus-like atmosphere that gradually sobered as the appointed hour approached.
At exactly ten p.m., the drone of approaching planes broke the silence, triggering wild cheers from the hundreds of men hiding in the darkness along the makeshift airstrip. Only four planes appeared instead of six, as two had turned back with engine trouble. After the final green flare signal, the first plane attempted landing but had to abort when it overshot the runway. Hearts sank momentarily until the second plane made a successful landing, followed by the others.
The C-47 pilots demonstrated perfect technique, dropping in hard at the runway's edge to use every available foot for stopping. Meanwhile, Chetnik soldiers like Nick Petrovich guarded the mountain roads, ready to ambush any German patrols investigating the commotion.
As the celebration unfolded, Musulin had to organize the evacuation, disappointing twenty-four airmen who must wait for the next flight due to the two missing planes. Despite his urgency to get airborne quickly, Musulin allowed emotional goodbyes between the departing airmen and the Serbian villagers who had risked everything to protect them.
In a spontaneous gesture of gratitude, airmen began removing their boots, jackets and other clothing, tossing them to the astonished villagers who were making do with felt slippers even in cold weather. The planes finally departed, barely clearing the treetops in a nail-biting takeoff that had everyone holding their breath.
After the four planes departed with forty-eight men, Musulin ordered Jibilian to radio Bari that they would not attempt more night landings, suggesting dawn operations instead. The next morning, to everyone's amazement and joy, they spotted not just C-47s but a protective swarm of thirty P-51 Mustangs and P-38 Lightning fighters. Six transport planes approached while fighters attacked German positions within fifty miles of the airstrip.
Operation Halyard ultimately rescued 512 personnel (432 Americans and 80 from other Allied nations) over six months, becoming the most successful rescue of downed airmen behind enemy lines in history.
9장
Justice Denied
Despite the operation's success, the rescued airmen were ordered to maintain strict secrecy about the mission to protect ongoing evacuations and the Serbian villagers. The military maintained secrecy about the mission even after completion because acknowledging it would mean giving credit to Mihailovich, whom the Allies had officially ostracized as a Nazi collaborator.
After the war, many rescued airmen found themselves fighting to defend Mihailovich's reputation against widespread misinformation. As the Committee for the Fair Trial to General Mihailovich formed with prominent citizens including governors, senators, and judges, attorney Morris L. Ernst volunteered to defend Mihailovich.
Despite growing public outrage and State Department appeals, Yugoslavia refused to allow American airmen to testify. In response, an American investigation commission gathered testimony from twenty airmen and OSS officers who had worked directly with Mihailovich, along with written statements from three hundred more airmen-all confirming they never witnessed any Nazi collaboration. The six-hundred-page report was completely ignored by Tito's government.
Mihailovich's trial began June 10, 1946, in a Belgrade auditorium converted to hold over one thousand spectators and numerous journalists. Appearing weak and nearly blind, Mihailovich stood with thirteen co-defendants while ten more were tried in absentia. The indictment accused him of collaborating with Germans and Italians to defeat Tito's Partisans, even condemning his resistance to communism as inherently treasonous.
On July 17, 1946, Mihailovich faced a firing squad at dawn, buried afterward in an unmarked grave. His final words were, "I strove for much, l undertook much, but the gales of the world have carried away both me and my work." Across America, rescued airmen like Tony Orsini wept in sorrow and anger, feeling betrayed that the free world had abandoned the man who saved them.
10장
A Secret Medal and Delayed Justice
Unknown to the airmen, several high-ranking Pentagon officials, including General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Air Force General Carl Spaatz, were quietly advocating for Mihailovich's recognition behind the scenes. In 1948, Eisenhower, deeply moved by accounts of the rescue operation, personally convinced President Harry S. Truman to posthumously award Mihailovich the Legion of Merit, one of America's highest decorations for foreign nationals. The detailed citation, signed personally by Truman on March 29, 1948, recognized Mihailovich for "organizing and leading important resistance forces against the enemy which contained no less than 24 German divisions" and specifically noted that "through the undaunted efforts of his troops, many United States airmen were rescued and returned safely to friendly control." The citation also praised his "remarkable contribution to the Allied cause."
Yet remarkably, the State Department, concerned about diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia's new Communist regime, insisted the honor be kept classified. For the first time in the decoration's history dating back to 1942, this prestigious award was marked "SECRET" and quietly filed away rather than publicly presented to Mihailovich's family or the Yugoslav people. The medal and citation remained hidden in government vaults for nearly twenty years, known only to a handful of officials, until Illinois Congressman Edward Derwinski, spurred by persistent rumors from rescued airmen and Serbian-American constituents, launched an investigation. Through determined effort and multiple Freedom of Information Act requests, he finally forced its declassification and public revelation in 1967.
Further vindication for Mihailovich came three decades later in 1997 when previously classified British wartime documents were finally opened to researchers. These files confirmed that James Klugmann, a Soviet mole embedded in British intelligence, had systematically sabotaged Mihailovich's reputation through fabricated intelligence reports and manipulated communications that swayed Allied support toward Tito's Partisans. The documents revealed Klugmann had deliberately suppressed positive reports about Mihailovich while amplifying negative ones, creating a false narrative that influenced crucial Allied decision-making. Many Americans, including military and government officials, were shocked to learn their government had unwittingly assisted the spread of Communism into southeastern Europe based on deliberately falsified intelligence - a tragic reality that Operation Halyard veterans had understood from their firsthand experiences with Mihailovich's forces. The revelations led to renewed calls for Mihailovich's full rehabilitation, though the damage to the post-war Balkans had already been done.
11장
Legacy of the Forgotten 500
As years passed, Operation Halyard faded from public memory, though the rescued airmen and OSS agents could never forget. Many grew disillusioned with international politics, having witnessed firsthand how nations could betray loyal allies while trusting unworthy ones.
The men involved scattered to different lives: George Vujnovich abandoned his medical ambitions and built an aircraft parts business in New York with his beloved wife Mirjana. George Musulin died in 1987, remembered as bitter about the war's aftermath. Arthur Jibilian returned to college, earned a business degree, and built a career in industrial safety. Richard Felman campaigned tirelessly for Mihailovich's recognition, repeatedly seeking approval for a memorial statue in Washington.
In 2005, Mihailovich's daughter Gordana finally received her father's Legion of Merit medal in a small private ceremony. The elderly American airmen gathered around her, expressing their gratitude and weeping openly as they told her how much her father had done for them. The 78-year-old retired medical doctor broke into tears upon receiving the medal, kissing her father's photograph.
Arthur Jibilian, still spry and quick-witted, was pleased but frustrated that the ceremony had been changed from a public event with media coverage to a small private affair. He suspected the State Department was still reluctant to allow publicity favorable to Mihailovich even sixty years later.
His anger was tempered upon meeting Clare Musgrove's grandson, who noted that without Mihailovich and Operation Halyard, he would never have been born. This young man's presence restored Jibilian's faith that good men can live on in the hearts of those who know the truth-and that sometimes, the forgotten stories of history are the ones most worth remembering.
