Života Ðurić
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Života Ðurić (
Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...
: Живота Ђурић; 11 April 1963 – 25 March 1999) was a Yugoslav
fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...
who fought in the
Kosovo War The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...
, during which he was killed in the FR Yugoslav Strike Mission.


Early life

Born in 1963, he was educated in the village of Davidovac in the
Paraćin Paraćin ( sr-Cyrl, Параћин, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. Located in the Velika Morava river valley, north of Kruševac and southeast of Kragujevac, the town had a population of 22,349 ...
municipality. After elementary school he went to Mostar to the Military Aviation School there (more information shown below), and then to the Aviation Academy in Zemunik near Zadar and two more years in
Titograd Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...
(today's
Podgorica Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...
). A hundred meters from his home is a small sports airport from which the older guys, members of the club "Our Wings" often took off, and probably this caused him to head to Mostar to the Military Aviation School after finishing the elementary school, and then schooling continues at the academy in Zemunika near Zadar and for two years in Podgorica.


Service as pilot

The service of the military pilot began in 1986 at the Petrovec airport near Skopje. There he married Biljana, who is from the vicinity of Paraćin. For six years they were in Skopje, then the squadron was moved to Kraljevo. The war found him at the position of the commander of the Tigers, a squadron of the "eagles" warplanes in the 98th Fighter-Bubbarrian Air Force Regiment. A unit that was based at the airport in Ladjevci near Kraljevo. There he becomes the commander of the 241st Fighter-Bubbarrier Squadron. That March 1999, it was clear to everyone that NATO would attack Serbia. The aviation regiment in Ladjevci had war plans, reconnaissance "eagles" recorded the positions of the KLA on Kosmet, and possible targets. The airmen approached the dislocation of manpower and equipment, the planes were removed from the airport and masked in their surroundings.


NATO bombing

The first night of the runway in Ladjevac was not hit, bombs fell between it and the mantle. In the morning, we went on to attack commands, camps and KLA barracks. In our ground units were aviation officers for guidance, also pilots, while in the command in Pristina there was an aviation liaison officer. It was decided to use the radio-link, due to the covertness of the flight, only in extreme necessity or if the officer on the ground assesses that the attack threatens our units – said Colonel Sreto Malinović, at the time of the war in 1999, commander of the 98th Regiment. It was flying in a sweeping flight, at a speed of 800 kilometres per hour, the planes followed the terrain configuration. A group of two or four "eagles" was usually led by a version of this two-seater aircraft - on the other seat sat a navigator whose task was to bring the aircraft precisely to the targets. The flights, which represented great physical exertion for the pilots, lasted about half an hour, and even 50 minutes when it came to the KLA's most remote positions towards Albania. And life Djuric took to the assignment on March 25, 1999. While flying over the Glogovac area, he noticed the KLA base, the command post and the warehouse, which he destroyed with two bombs. He continued his flight to a predetermined goal and at one point, when due to the configuration of the terrain he had to turn the plane on his flank, he was hit by fire from the ground. Pilot Slobodan Dimovski, a friend of the family, "Classic", who then accompanied him on the task, recounted: - We flew above the intersected terrain, in conditions of difficulty navigation at only fifty meters of relative height. The sun was on the sun. The mountains on the border with Albania were already making shadows. Djuric had already carried out the effect, he was in the manoeuvre up when he was hit. I saw that he fell on the position of terrorists, who had the support of NATO aviation from the air," Dimovski said. According to the assessment and assumption of the pilot from Djuric’s squadron, when he could not pull the plane out, Commander Djuric did not want terrorists alive, but crashed the enemy with a plane. For two days he was missing - his wife Biljana told reporters later. At the time of the life of the death, their son Alexander was ten years old, and the daughter Anna, aged 9.


Legacy

He was posthumously decorated and promoted. Djuric's life is buried in Paraćin. "The heroic work of Major Life Djuric has been perpetuated. We will remember him and mention him as well as the greatest hero pilots who have so far defended our people and the Fatherland. He entered the brave knight in history. We are proud of our brave pilot Life Djuric. May he have eternal glory and thanks!" it was said at the time. A mural dedicated to him, Milenko Pavlović as well as
Zoran Radosavljević Zoran Radosavljević may refer to: * Zoran Radosavljević (footballer) (born 1968), Serbian footballer * Zoran Radosavljević (pilot) (1965–1999), Yugoslav fighter pilot {{hndis, Radosavljevic, Zoran ...
was painted around 2015. His face, in his legacy, was later painted on a
Soko J-22 Orao The Soko J-22 Orao ( sr-cyr, text=Oрао, translation=eagle) is a Yugoslavian/ Serbian twin-engined, subsonic ground-attack and aerial reconnaissance aircraft. It was developed and built in collaboration by SOKO in Yugoslavia and by Avioa ...
warplane in
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
. He left behind his wife, son and daughter.


See also

*
Zoran Radosavljević Zoran Radosavljević may refer to: * Zoran Radosavljević (footballer) (born 1968), Serbian footballer * Zoran Radosavljević (pilot) (1965–1999), Yugoslav fighter pilot {{hndis, Radosavljevic, Zoran ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ðurić, Života 1963 births 1999 deaths People from Paraćin Yugoslav People's Army personnel Yugoslav military personnel killed in action Yugoslav aviators Serbian aviators Serbian military personnel killed in action Serbian military personnel of the Kosovo War Military personnel killed in the Kosovo War People killed during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia