This vlog was taken last Saturday (May, 2008) in the National Cemetery located in San Bruno, CA. This is where MANY war veterans are buried--from various wars. This video is dedicated to our American soldiers.

It seemed like over 1,000 motorcycles traveled Wellsville's Historic Main Street on May 10, 2008 to Island Park to see the Moving Wall Memorial for our soldiers who lost their lives during the Vietnam War. The view is from Better Days on North Main Street, with the old Brunswick Building and the Daily Reporter building as the back drop. You will see a lot of local faces riding and waving to the Hart Family and others supporting the riders and their cause. It was a great day and a great week for Wellsville, thanks to the American Legion, VFW and many, many otthers.

This was the largest rescue of American lives from behind enemy lines in American history.

Heroic Serbia, Our Ally

http://www.byzantinesacredart.com/blog/2006/11/heroic-serbia -wwii.html

http://www.dojgov.net/kosovo_watch02.htm

Richard L. Felman (May 29, 1921 -- November 13, 1999) was a distinguished officer in the United States Air Force who flew combat missions during World War II and the Korean War, receiving 27 awards and decorations over the course of his military career.

Felman was born in the The Bronx, New York City. He was the son of American-born David and Dora, a Jewish immigrant from Poland. He had one brother, Irwin, born six years earlier. At the age of 21, Felman enlisted in the U. S. Army Air Corps on July 24, 1942 and became a master navigator.

In early 1944 he was assigned to the 415th Bombardment Squadron, 98th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force stationed in Lecce, Italy as a Second Lieutenant flying B-24s. His "Liberator" bomber, "Never a Dull Moment", would live up to its name. In July 1944, Felman's B-24 was hit by German ME-109s and 10 of the eleven-man crew bailed out from 18,000 feet over the Yugoslav hills. Felman was later awarded the Purple Heart for his service during the plane crash.

The Americans, led by Felman, landed in central Serbia. Serbia, at the time, was a Nazi Germany-occupied territory, but controlled by the Chetniks, a resistance movement led by Draža Mihailović. The Chetniks protected them from the Germans, despite the fact the Germans burned the nearby village of Pranjani in retaliation, killing around 200 women and children. Felman and his men stayed safe with the Chetniks, and were airlifted out of Serbia on August 10, 1944. Felman became friends with Mihailović and his Chetniks, as did the other Allied airmen who had been gunned down over Serbia in the same year. Over 500 downed US airmen survived because of assistance from the Chetniks.

Felman was personally decorated twice by King Peter II of Yugoslavia, first with the Royal Order of Ravna Gora, Yugoslavia's highest military decoration in 1946.

The Chetniks were defeated by the end of the war. Due to unrelated war crimes, Draža Mihailović was accused by the Partisans in 1946. Felman and 21 others in April 1946 petitioned Harry S. Truman and the U.S. Government to be allowed to go, at their own expense, to Belgrade and present their testimonies to the jury on Mihailović's trial.

They were denied by the State Department, because the U.S. had befriended the Communist Partisans in the latter stages of the war, and did not want to disrupt their relations with the Communist Yugoslav government that was created post war. Despite Felman's insistence, he was not able to reach Belgrade. Mihailović was found guilty of high treason, executed and buried in an unmarked grave on July 17, 1946.

Because of his efforts, Mihailović and his organization, on the recommendation of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, were posthumously awarded the Legion of Merit by President Truman for their contributions to the Allied victory and the rescue of American airmen from behind enemy lines. The Legion of Merit is the highest award the U.S. can give a foreign national,

Felman continued arguing that Mihailović and his Chetniks should be honored for their rescue of US pilots. In 1970, he went on the Congressional Record pressing for legislation for a statue on Capitol grounds honoring General Mihailović. In 1976 and in 1977, the bill was introduced into the Senate by Strom Thurmond and Barry Goldwater. However, the legislation died in the House because of the aforementioned U.S. policy towards Yugoslavia. It was reintroduced over the next decades several times, but failed each time.

Richard Felman retired from the United States Air Force in 1968.

In 1995, for the 50th Anniversary of the VE Day, Major Richard Felman returned to Serbia after 50 years, accompanied by his wife Mary Anne as well as Captain Nick Lalich and Lt. Col. Charlie Davis. He was met on the mountain of Ravna Gora by 50,000 Serbian people who gave him a thunderous ovation.

Felman died at the age of 78. He was survived by his wife Mary Anne and his brother Irwin. He had no children. On November 13, 1999 he was laid to rest at the "All Faiths Memorial Park" in Tucson, Arizona.

This video is set to the song, Praise You in the Storm, by Casting Crowns. It is intended to honor the American troops and the Savior Who strengthens them to serve in wars that neither He, nor they, ever started.