by Goran FLAUDER
General Imra Agotic, advisor of the president of Croatia for military issues, aware of the complexity of this task, is not confident that the brigade will gather in two months. Therefore, if this autumn passes without a line up in Vukovar, General Agotic promises a line up on the tenth anniversary in 2001. "The Minister for Croatian Defenders [war veterans] Ivica Pancic requested approval of the commander in chief for a line up of the 204th brigade, so that now we are requesting the necessary documents and data about the brigade from the Ministry of Defense. A problem we are facing is the lack of documentation and different lists of members, because many claim the right to the status of the war veteran, so that the line up would finally establish definitely who fought and who did not fight in the brigade," says Agotic.
The number of soldiers in the brigade varied over the years and the last commander of the defense of Vukovar, Branko Borkovic, acknowledges a list of 1803 soldiers, made at the time of founding of the brigade in September 1991. The commander of the brigade, Mile Dedakovic and most of his subordinate officers add to that those who defended villages of the former Vukovar Municipality, from Lovas to Tovarnik, medics and firemen, and all those who volunteered and joined the brigade before the fall of Vukovar on November 18. A year or two after the fall the list of brigade fighters grew to about 10,000 persons but that was tolerated for the sake of social care for expelled persons form vukovar who had no other means for survival.
That was an insufficient compensation for a crime against tortured fighters and an unsuccessful attempt to cleanse bad conscience before the nation, at first for the failure to provide necessary assistance to the defenders of Vukovar and delivery of the town to the aggressor, and then because of the persecution of its defenders once they broke through the enemy lines to the free territory.
"They were afraid of our rage, because they refused to send us weapons in spite of our numerous demands and numerous promises by Tudman, Susak and Tus. Despite all the promises we never got anything," explains Nikola Zlatko Toth, the commander of the 4th company, which covered the center of the town. "That was treason, because Vukovar had already been sold, and we were written off and sacrificed. Although Croatia had enough weaponry and ammunition from the captured barracks of the Yugoslav People's Army, they did not send us needed supplies. They would inform us that they were loading 13 trucks with grenades for Nora, but those trucks never arrived. However, people later found military boxes in Hercegovina with labels saying Vukovar and messages 'Defenders of Vukovar, hold on, we are with you in hearts'," says Toth.
On October 15 and 16, 1991, a group of commanders of the 204th brigade led by Mile Dedakovic and Nikola Toth traveled from Vinkovci to Zagreb, in order to directly explain the situation in the town and request assistance. They were received by all those who could influence such a decision - Zarko Domljan, Franjo Greguric, Ivan Vekic, Anton Tus, Imra Agotic, and finally even Gojko Susak and Franjo Tudman, who even made concrete promises, with concrete dates and amounts of ammunition and weaponry.
"They told us to go back, organize defense in Vinkovac and prepare to break the siege of Vukovar and they were going to send us reinforcements and weaponry needed for that. But we were cheated. That is why Dedakovic had to give an interview for the Croatian TV, to Luka Mitrovic, and warn that we were being cheated and lied to and that Vukovar would fall if that continued. He held a press conference at which we requested assistance from abroad, because at that time there were 2,500 of children in Vukovar, and up to 7,000 grenades fell on the town daily. After that we were banished and never received any additional assistance," says Nikola Toth.
Mile Dedakovic was dismissed from the position of the commander of the brigade four days before the fall of Vukovar. He was ordered to transfer command to his deputy Nikola Toth, but Toth refused to accept that, so that professional officers were sent instead. Later in Zagreb they requested a meeting with president Tudman and organization of a strong unit that would take advantage of the intoxication of the Serbs with their victory and again capture Vukovar, but Tudman refused to see them.
"We were received by Josip Manolic, who took us to Tuskanac and fed us. Manolic was totally disinterested and we realized that they were happy that Vukovar was finally taken off the agenda, but my deputy Goran Kalazic and I realized that we were likely to be arrested. We went to Dedakovic's apartment, but he had already been arrested. A few days later, all of us were in custody in the prison in Lascina. Manolic's commission that was supposed to discover the reasons for the fall of Vukovar, after two or three days concluded that Mile Dedakovic and the commanding officers of the brigade and the town defense were to be blamed. Of course, they did not talk to anyone of us," says Nikola Toth and explains reasons for such a showdown.
"They knew that in the war we were united, so that they were afraid that we would challenge the authorities. But, first Serbs took some of our commanding officers to camps, including myself, and then based on Tudman's and Susak's instructions, 53 officers and soldiers were sent to jail. At the same time, they scattered refugees from Vukovar to 586 places all over Croatia."
"Through the SIS and other secret services they tried to sow discord among us. All these years the healthy core of the 204th brigade has been demanding recognition and the right to line up again. The Croatian people have honored us, but the authorities have so far failed to do the same, even though they keep talking about Vukovar as a hero city. And where are the heroes who defended Vukovar? Walls could not be heroes, someone had to defend the town. The indictment put together about ten days before the fall of the town described them very well."
Based on numerous statements by generals and politicians our interlocutors conclude that Tudman agreed to surrender eastern Slavonija, so that their desperate defense of the town threatened to spoil his plans. They see that as the reason why president Tudman never met anyone of the commanders of the defense of Vukovar. True, he met with Dedakovic, but his soldiers did not get anything out of that.
"Tudman was already seriously ill at the time and we talked about the distribution of ranks and other privileges of war veterans. He told me to send him a written proposal for promotions, but I explained that that would be useless as the walls around him were so thick that that proposal would never make it to him. Such initiatives were blocked above all by Ivic Pasalic, who was very generous in providing honors and benefits for his people, and I was never among them. Vesna Skare-Ozbolt and Hrvoje Sarinic worked in vain on making sure that the president keep his promise but Pasalic was always stronger. Other kept their heads down, or kept saying that it wasn't their fault," says Dedakovic.
A few days ago they heard on the TV that Miroslav Kutle was the first political prisoner in Croatia, but they emphasize that that unfortunate title belongs to Mile Dedakovic Jastreb and Nikola Toth Feniks, who spent a month in jail soon after the fall of Vukovar, and Ljiljana Toth who was kept in prison for 43 days, and Branko Borkovic who was imprisoned for 28 days.
Only when Mile Dedakovic joined the HDZ and gave a few interviews to the media supporting the ruling party, in which he idolized president Tudman's role, he got an opportunity to represent the brigade in peace and sign decisions as the commanding officer of the brigade.
Thus, he had an opportunity to assist the soldiers who had until then been ignored and to make sure that they got the official status of war veterans. In order to get that opportunity he agreed to invest his own dignity, as the survival needs of his soldiers, who were wasting away God knows where, was more important to him.
"I was daily contacted by 1520 comrades and I was desperate that I could not help them. I personally know most of them and I do know that they risked their lives in the defense of Vukovar, and now have no decent accommodation and their children were hungry. The important issues have been resolved but, look, no one from Vukovar has been invited to the parade of the Croatian National Guard in late May," says Dedakovic.
The public rehabilitation of Mile Dedakovic in 1996 implied the rehabilitation of the 204th Brigade, but its members until today haven't received the status of the war veteran, nor any social benefits, as an official list of all of its members does not exist. Those among them who publicly criticized the Croatian leadership for the fall of Vukovar could not be helped, so that it was claimed that some organizers and commanders of the defense were not in the Croatian defense forces at all. The military ranks indicate the same, as none of the commanders of the 204th Brigade were given the rank of general, apart from late Blago Zadro and Ivan Kapular, Gojko Susak's close friend, who was rewarded for his role in other units. Brigade commander Mile Dedakovic, and the last commander of the defense of Vukovar Branko Borkovic, have only the rank of brigadier, so that their soldiers today wonder whether anyone, apart from a handful of Croatian generals deserves to carry that rank if the two of them do not.
Nikola Toth finally received last year the status of the war veteran while none of the soldiers from the 204th brigade received the decoration "Vukovar", which was reserved for politicians. There were suggestions that the medal should be awarded to all the individuals who fought in eastern Slavonia, but in that case it should be given also to the staff officers of the chiefs of staff and the operative zones covering that territory, so that the number of medals rose to 76,000. Finally, it was accepted that 3,500 copies should be made and they should be distributed during the line up of the brigade. The soldiers are, however, complaining, because the medals are identical to those awarded to Milos Vojnovic and Vojislav Stanimirovic, for their contribution to the peaceful integration, and they were on the side of the opponent during the war. As the key precondition for the line up of the brigade, Mile Dudakovic demands that the defenders of Vukovar finally receive all the rights and privileges they have according to law: the status of war veterans, military ranks, decorations and the decoration "Vukovar". "Otherwise, the line up would be nothing but political propaganda, and I do not want to participate in that," says Dudakovic.
When Ivo Kovacic, after spending nine months in the Serb camps, was exchanged, he went to the barracks Borongaj to check what his official status was, and was surprised when he realized that he was not officially registered in the central list of military personnel. He then went to Vlaska Street to obtain a document confirming that he had fought with the 204th Brigade, but could not obtain it because he was not listed as one of the defenders of Vukovar. As he did not recognize anyone who had fought with him, he left disappointed. In the city he by chance met Borkovic and Borkovic gave him in his hotel room the order which promoted him to the position of the commander of a company in the 204th Brigade. Only when he returned with that order to Vlaska street, he finally managed to sort out his status. The first time they did not even allow him to check who had put the list of the soldiers together, and when he later found out he only smiled.
Another indication of the general attitude towards the commanders of the 204th Vukovar Brigade is the fact that leaders of the annual visit of the Military Academy students to Vukovar are generals Ivan Tolj and Franjo Feldi, neither of whom fought in Vukovar. During these visits they never invite anyone of the commanders of the defense of Vukovar, so that they are left wondering what such men can tell young soldiers about the war in Vukovar, as it is doubtful that either of them has at least read Dedakovic's book "The Battle for Vukovar".
In one hundred days of their activity the fighters of the 204th Brigade destroyed more than 50 percent of enemy soldiers and weaponry destroyed in the whole Homeland War. According to the commanding officers of the brigade, they destroyed or damaged 350-400 armored vehicles, destroyed 50 airplanes, killed 14,000 enemy soldiers and wounded another 30,000. The figures from Serb sources are smaller by about 10-15 percent, so that the 204th brigade soldiers emphasize that all other Croat brigades taken together did not achieve comparable results.
Only in Trpinjska road, 186 armored vehicles were destroyed, and during the first four days 48 of them were damaged, mostly with shoulder fired rockets, "wasps", and some with a cannon. 86 Croat soldiers died there, mostly from artillery fire unrelated to direct combat. The number of killed and missing from that region is above 2,500. Mile Dedakovic Jastreb has never visited Tudman's grave.