Exhibition in honor of Halyard Mission set up at Serbian Embassy in the US

An exhibition honoring the Halyard Mission, the largest rescue mission of Allied forces behind enemy lines in World War II, carried out in Serbia, has been opened at the Embassy of Serbia in Washington, D.C. The Serbian Ambassador to the United States, Marko Djuric, said that our generation today lives by the standards set by that friendship.

Djuric stated on Twitter that he is proud to join the friends from the Halyard Mission in hosting the exhibition, which is dedicated to a remarkable operation that is a unique example of how friendship and brotherhood in arms were formed under the most complex circumstances, in an environment which was unforgiving, in a setting in which saving each airman’s life was a direct threat to those who took part in the mission. 

"It's a story of heroism and courage of airmen who risked their lives to liberate the lands thousands of miles away from their hometowns, and of the ordinary people who risked their lives to save the American and allied airmen. It's a story of a unique friendship forged generations ago," Djuric wrote.

He added that today, our generation is living up to the standards of that friendship.

"We will do our best not to let down our ancestors and not disappoint those who will come after us," Djuric conveyed.

Operation Air Bridge, also known as Operation Halyard in the United States, was the largest rescue mission of Allied forces behind enemy lines in World War II. It was carried out in Serbia by US aviation in cooperation with the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland of General Dragoljub Mihailovic.

Within the mission, more than 500 Allied pilots, who were shot down by the Germans over Yugoslavia, were rescued.

The majority of the pilots were evacuated from an improvised airfield in the village of Pranjani in 1944.