Merry Christmas to me! This book was given to me as a gift, and I was super excited to read it. Operation Halyard ranks up there as one of the most heroic and brave things I've ever heard of. When it comes to a thoughtful gift, giving me a book that's going to teach me about a little known WWII event is the best you can do.
During WWII, Yugoslavia was fighting two wars. One was against the Germans, and the other was an internal conflict between two warring groups led by two men with completely different viewpoints. Tito and Mihailovich stood on opposite sides, but when American airmen (and also some from other countries) start to fall into the countryside, Mihailovich's followers protect them. It's extremely dangerous, not only for the men, but the villagers as well.
The soldiers are gathering in the mountains, but no one is acknowledging them or offering assistance. That's because forces are at work keeping the information from the people that can help. Communists are poisoning the government's opinion of Mihailovich and support is going to Tito's Partisans. Now that the Allies have chosen a side, they can't be seen to have anything to do with Tito's enemy. The operation also is getting sabotaged from the inside, but eventually it gets going.
I really enjoyed this book. I was disappointed to learn that even now efforts to recognize Mihailovich are buried and swept aside. The 500+ men whose lives were affected by the wrongly accused Mihailovich wanted to see his name cleared. Unfortunately, this book seems to be the only public thing I've seen/heard. Even the presentation of the hidden Legion of Merit was done without any fanfare or publicity. So sad. One of the things that expressed what I was thinking was quoted in the book: "No Western nation, including the United States, can hope to win its own battle for freedom and survival by sacrificing brave comrades to the politics of international expediency." Ronald Reagan
The book is well-researched, and I appreciated the bibliography and the pictures included. When I come across something as interesting as this, I want to dive deeper, and I'll be able to do that thanks to the bibliography. The writing style was engaging, and I was never bored. I see that the author has written some other books about events that don't sound familiar to me, so I hope to be able to read more from him in the future. Good Book!
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