[Swallows a Yo-Yo]

There seems to be a lot of division among the World War II cognoscenti concerning Gregory A. Freeman's book "The Forgotten 500," telling the tale of more than 500 Allied servicemen rescued by the OSS from Yugoslavia, due in part to the sheltering of the servicemen by those allied with Draza Mihailovich. Some are accusing Freeman of projecting modern conservative anti-Communist political leanings into the story.

That's as may be; I know nothing of Freeman's politics.

But some of the criticism leveled at the story is laughable, and comes with modern projecting of its own, so I'm not going to discuss it. Suffice it to say that Communism *was* as much of a bogeyman in the 1930s and 1940s as it was in the 1980s, and the Stuka bombers, while vulnerable to figher attack, were also used to extreme success during the Blizkreig and afterward.

What I do appreicate are the firsthand stories shared in this book -- and I'll always go with firsthand stories over anything else. Freeman tells a good tale, from start to finish, even in parts of the book that others have described as "boring." I wasn't bored reading this. I was surprised many times, shocked a few times, and reminded many times of the concern raised -- and I wish I could remember who said it -- in stating that nations excelled at doing great things at times of war, and often fail to rise to that level of dedication and excellence in times of peace. Freeman's book is a good reminder of people getting stuck in a bad situation and fighting their way through it to survive. And if that's the lesson I get from reading this book, I'm better off for it.

The book is also a good reminder that even the Allies -- the US included -- didn't always fight with honor during what Studs Terkel called The "Good" War. Anyone looking for a saint will be disappointed to find them in the company of devils.

The photo above is from Google Maps and shows the "aerodrom" at Pranjane, as described in Freeman's book. It seems someone there thought it fitting to remember what happened there, despite the politic slop and modern projections, anti-communist or what have you, aside. Seems like these airmen, who saw the sacrifices these people did, and fought for recognition for them and their leaders for decades, still have some fights to make.