Vukovar – a Town of Heroes

The one thing the Vukovar defenders had for sure through the battles, in later captivity and exile and on returning to start over was the heart, the courage to live and to move on, defying the perils

Twenty-nine years have passed since the siege and the 87 days of the Battle for Vukovar.

Vukovar was defended by the people who were caught there, whose houses and families were there. Until 1991 and the war they had lived altogether different lives, few of them had any military training and ever imagined to be soldiers one day.

Later, when defenders received augmentations from other parts of Croatia, there was still a huge disparity between the aggressor and the defenders: 1:1,000. Vukovar was defended by some 1,500 people, critically lacking weapons, equipment, ammunition, military skills, intelligence, logistics, augmentations; they were out of electricity, food, medicines and water. But they compensated it all with courage and heroism.

The one thing the Vukovar defenders had for sure through the battles, in later captivity and exile and on returning to start over was the heart, the courage to live on when they had against life anew – if they had anything it was the heart and courage to live and to move on, defying the perils.

Dejan Marošičević, Marijofil Andrijanić, Franjo Šoljić and Rafo Alandžak are some of these heroes, although they take it with surprise. They defended Vukovar until the last day and were expelled from the town, suffered hardships but returned to the town to live there to this day.

The victors and the heroes.

Croatian version:

VUKOVAR – GRAD HEROJA: Svjedočanstva branitelja