Blog

Meet the Only American Soldier in Sarajevo; Army Sergeant from Iowa, Assigned to U.N. Unit, Wants to Return – with U.S. Forces

The Washington Post
January 24, 1993

SARAJEVO – Sgt. Richard Roth is a stealth soldier.

While the Pentagon and White House have fretted about sending armed forces into Bosnia, Roth, a blunt-talking, Marlboro-smoking sergeant from Maquoketa, Iowa, slipped into Sarajevo as part of the U.N. peace-keeping ...  (Read more)

A Cry for Help from a Frozen Hell: Besieged Bosnian Town Uses Radio Link to Express Its Agony

The Washington Post
January 13, 1993

SARAJEVO – Through the static of a shortwave radio, Fadil Heljic made a frantic plea from hell.

“The town is like a big cemetery,” he shouted from the Muslim-held town of Zepa, which is surrounded by Serb forces and has had no food deliveries since ...  (Read more)

‘Don’t Cry, Darling, You’re Leaving’: U.N. Evacuates Elderly from Front-Line Sarajevo Nursing Home

The Washington Post
January 11, 1993

SARAJEVO – A British relief worker, seeing an old woman sob as she was being evacuated from her freezing nursing home near Sarajevo’s front line, spoke a few magic words into her ear: “Don’t cry, darling, you’re leaving.”

Nearby, ...  (Read more)

U.N. Cites ‘Errors’ in Killing; Inadequate Security for Bosnian Blamed

The Washington Post
January 10, 1993

SARAJEVO, Jan. 9 – The United Nations commander in Bosnia admitted today that his soldiers failed to provide adequate security for a top Bosnian politician who was assassinated while under U.N. protection, and he warned that the killing could provoke an escalation ...  (Read more)

Relief Supplies Won’t Prevent Bosnia Tragedy, U.N. Aide Says

The Washington Post
January 8, 1993

SARAJEVO, Jan. 7 – The United Nations relief effort for Bosnia is failing to save people from dying and must be dramatically reinforced in besieged Sarajevo, a top U.N. relief official said today.

Jose-Maria Mendiluce, special envoy here for the U.N. High Commissioner ...  (Read more)

Help Us, or We Will All Die,’ Aged Sarajevans Beseech U.N.

The Washington Post
January 7, 1993

SARAJEVO, Jan. 6 – At a nursing home that is becoming a tomb, the haggard face of death met the shamed face of the United Nations today.

Mustafa Dizdarovic, 82, who had seen enough of his friends die of cold to know that his time would come soon, shuffled through ...  (Read more)