On this day, April 16, 1999, in the harsh fog of Prokletije, the voice of Sasa Ivankovic went silent—a young man from Vreoci whose fate represents one of the most poignant stories from the time of the NATO aggression.
An only son who came from an extremely modest and honest family, he was the sole support for his disabled parents. His father Milomir could barely move, while his mother Gordana could not go anywhere without crutches and platform shoes. The Ivankovics were known as hardworking people who earned a bare living by repairing footwear, and Sasa was everything to them—their arms, their legs, and their hope for a better tomorrow.
Although according to military regulations Sasa did not have to go into the army because he was the sole caregiver for his sick parents, he was firmly determined to put on the uniform and repay his debt to the fatherland like every honorable Serbian youth. He joined the army at the end of 1998, first for training in Valjevo and then in the Guard in Belgrade. The beginning of the bombing found him in the capital, from where he should not have been moved due to his family situation; however, his unit was suddenly reassigned to Kosovo and Metohija, straight into the hell of Kosare. He last contacted his family at the end of March, upset and worried, and after that came a silence that hinted at the worst while answers from the barracks were missing.
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Comrades who survived the hell of Maja Glava remember him as a quiet, honest, and extremely brave guy who never complained about his fate. On that fateful April 16, under thick fog, the unit launched an attack to push the enemy from the strategically important peak. The battle was hand-to-hand, and the exchange of fire was fierce while enemy fortified positions sowed death. At one point, Sasa tried to cover the empty space between the combat groups to protect his comrades and prevent encirclement, and that is when he was seriously wounded. While the artillery later changed the shape of the mountain and as the lines shifted, Sasa remained on that harsh height.
Because of the sacrifice made by Sasa and his comrades, that part of the position was preserved, and the enemy suffered enormous losses. Nevertheless, the price was too high because Sasa Ivankovic never returned from that task and to this day is officially listed as missing. After the war, the army built a house for his parents in the hope of easing their difficult old age at least a little, but the silence in that home was unbearable. Gordana and Milomir did not live long in the new walls because the pain for their only son, who laid down his life on the altar of the fatherland, was stronger than any illness. His story today remains as a symbol of fearlessness and the purest patriotism of a young man who chose a rifle over an exemption.
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Source: Serbian Times, Photo: Privatna arhiva