{"id":175013,"date":"2025-04-09T15:09:53","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T13:09:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/?p=175013"},"modified":"2025-04-09T15:09:54","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T13:09:54","slug":"vladimirs-war-diary-breaks-the-heart-we-were-as-one-we-didnt-want-our-comrades-body-left-behind-at-the-outpost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/vladimirs-war-diary-breaks-the-heart-we-were-as-one-we-didnt-want-our-comrades-body-left-behind-at-the-outpost\/","title":{"rendered":"VLADIMIR\u2019S WAR DIARY BREAKS THE HEART: We were as one, we didn\u2019t want our comrade\u2019s body left behind at the outpost!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>It has been 26 years since the bloody April of 1999, when more than 100 Serbian soldiers lost their lives in the Battle of Ko\u0161are. The Ko\u0161are outpost was the most difficult point to defend in Kosovo and Metohija against the incursion of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). Young men serving their mandatory military service were sent there that year. They were sent to Ko\u0161are at the ages of 19, 20, and 21. Young, full of heart, and\u2014most tragically\u2014without any combat or war experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although more than two and a half decades have passed, the heavy memories of war are still alive for Vladimir Ili\u0107, who endured that Golgotha with his comrades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen we first arrived at the outpost, we were met by visibly exhausted border guards who hoped we could help them. And we thought the same, not knowing that on the other side was a much stronger and more numerous army. Still, we didn\u2019t back down. We kept moving forward,\u201d begins this Ko\u0161are hero in an interview with RINA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"640\" src=\"http:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/04\/DIPTIH-TRIPTIH-Serbian-Times-2-1024x640.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-175014\" srcset=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/04\/DIPTIH-TRIPTIH-Serbian-Times-2-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/04\/DIPTIH-TRIPTIH-Serbian-Times-2-300x188.jpg 300w, https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/04\/DIPTIH-TRIPTIH-Serbian-Times-2-768x480.jpg 768w, https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/04\/DIPTIH-TRIPTIH-Serbian-Times-2-400x250.jpg 400w, https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/04\/DIPTIH-TRIPTIH-Serbian-Times-2.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In rare moments of rest at the Valjevo barracks, Vladimir began to keep a diary, unaware that it would become the only record of what he and his fellow soldiers went through in that fateful year defending their homeland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe were as one, we shared everything we could\u2014ammunition, food, wet clothes and shoes\u2014this is what saved us. We weren\u2019t such great heroes as much as we were comrades and friends. What saved us was that we looked out for one another. We had a clear goal: to survive, to defend the outpost, and to save the soldiers stationed there. Sadly, on just the second day we lost a platoon leader. We later tried to retrieve his body because we didn\u2019t want it left behind up there, and from Easter to St. George\u2019s Day it took to recover it. I relive those days constantly; I dream of them at night, and it\u2019s very hard,\u201d says Vladimir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><mark style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#d21414\" class=\"has-inline-color\">FIND OUT MORE: <\/mark><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fserbiantimes%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0xdpwX8Zb7nQCtoquJa61r4BBQES8z6ZoPbK11fYeYMuP88XS7B3qbgf5RQfWU6q8l&#038;show_text=true&#038;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"250\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>Although war was an unknown for the young soldiers, they fought bravely and without giving up. Today, Vladimir revives the memories of that sorrowful spring and the friends with whom he spent the hardest moments through his stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI decided to write a book just the way I wrote back then. As a twenty-year-old who knew nothing about writing or war. I now feel it will be the only honest book about the battle. In it, I\u2019ll write everything\u2014about the great friendships and the courage of those young soldiers,\u201d Vladimir concludes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"block-15e426a5-444f-485e-ab6c-c5b4d7841c36\"><mark style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#d21414\" class=\"has-inline-color\">MORE TOPICS:<\/mark><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/his-native-village-does-not-forget-a-mural-with-the-image-of-the-killed-policeman-nikola-krsmanovic-appeared-in-draginac-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">HIS NATIVE VILLAGE DOES NOT FORGET: A mural with the image of the killed policeman Nikola Krsmanovi\u0107 appeared in Draginac! (VIDEO) &nbsp;<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/vucic-chose-the-candidate-for-the-composition-of-the-new-government-is-duro-macut-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">VU\u010cI\u0106 CHOSE: The candidate for the composition of the new Government is \u0110uro Macut (VIDEO)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/italian-pianist-expelled-from-serbia-david-played-at-protests-in-nis-police-gave-him-three-days-to-leave-the-country\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">ITALIAN PIANIST EXPELLED FROM SERBIA: David played at protests in Ni\u0161, police gave him three days to leave the country!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/sound-cannon-thundered-to-scare-them-ceda-jovanovic-didnt-know-he-was-live-on-tv-for-8-minutes-revealed-everything\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">\u201cSOUND CANNON THUNDERED TO SCARE THEM\u201d: \u010ceda Jovanovi\u0107 didn\u2019t know he was live on TV for 8 minutes, revealed everything!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/drugged-attack-on-police-officers-lawyer-defending-vesic-in-the-canopy-case-tests-positive-for-amphetamines\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">DRUGGED ATTACK ON POLICE OFFICERS: Lawyer defending Vesi\u0107 in the \u201ccanopy case\u201d tests positive for amphetamines!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source<\/strong>: RINA, <strong>Foto<\/strong>: RINA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It has been 26 years since the bloody April of 1999, when more than 100 Serbian soldiers lost their lives in the Battle of Ko\u0161are. The Ko\u0161are outpost was the most difficult point to defend in Kosovo and Metohija against the incursion of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). Young men serving their mandatory military service [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2169,"featured_media":175015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[6031,6032,3712,6033,6034,109,6035,113,6036,5634],"class_list":["post-175013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","tag-bitka-na-kosarama","tag-bitka-za-kosare","tag-junaci-sa-kosara","tag-karaula","tag-kosare","tag-kosovo-i-metohija","tag-ratni-dnevnik","tag-srbija","tag-vladimir-ilic","tag-vojska-srbije","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Serbiantimes.info EN","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2169"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175013"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":175057,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175013\/revisions\/175057"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/serbiantimes.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}