1994 Roadside Attack On Spin Magazine Journalists
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In the 1994 roadside attack on ''Spin'' magazine journalists on
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during the
Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...
, two journalists, Bryan Brinton and Francis William Tomasic, were killed by a landmine, and journalist and novelist William T. Vollmann was injured near
Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...
in
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
.


Description

William T. Vollmann, Bryan Brinton, and Francis William Tomasic, United States journalists, were in a jeep driving through the north of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina, when they had driven off the main road in territory controlled by the Bosnian army. While driving on this road, the vehicle ran over a landmine at around 4:00 p.m. on 1 May 1994. The mine injured and hospitalized Vollmann and killed Brinton and Tomasic.


Bryan Brinton

Bryan William Brinton, also known as William Ryan (June 16, 1949May 1, 1994), grew up in Crown Hill,
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
. Brinton was the youngest of three brothers from the West Seattle area. He used the name William Ryan at times because it was his middle name and his mother's maiden name. Brinton was enlisted in the army from June 18, 1968 – March 20, 1971 and toured the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
as a medic. After breaking up with a girlfriend when he was 44 years old, Brinton began studying photojournalism and family therapy at Shoreline Community College, hoping to one day pursue photography and journalism full-time rather than landscaping (Brinton owned a landscaping business, Northwest Pacific Tree Service, for most of his adult life.). Brinton traveled to Bosnia and Herzegovina to gain access to press credentials. There he contacted ''Magnolia News'' on April 25, 1994, from Croatia and offered his photographs in exchange for press credentials. He wanted to take pictures in war-torn Bosnia and Herzegovina.


Francis William Tomasic

Francis William Tomasic (26 April 19581 May 1994), a freelance photographer, age 36, was from
Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in Monroe County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. The population was 79,168 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-most populous city in Indiana and ...
, and attended high school there. Tomasic was a friend of William T. Vollmann; they met while attending the same high school. After high school, Tomasic got his degree in Serbo-Croatian language from
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
. Vollmann studied Comparative Literature at Cornell. Both ended up on the trip to Bosnia. Tomasic's father was a professor at
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...
. He was of Croatian descent. Tomasic was working as a freelance photographer and translator for ''Spin'' magazine. His friends say that he was an aspiring journalist and that is what drew him to Bosnia and Herzegovina. A friend of Francis stated, "I think Fran thought that there might be some way to help people understand what was going on in
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
if some journalists could talk to the people at the helm."


Context

Mostar was the location of the conflict between
Bosnian Croats The Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina (), often referred to as Bosnian Croats () or Herzegovinian Croats (), are native to Bosnia and Herzegovina and constitute the third most populous ethnic group, after Bosniaks and Serbs. They are also one of ...
and
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
s. The land mine which the vehicle ran over was near a dam at Salakovac, north of
Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...
in Bosnia. A U.N. Military spokesman stated the unrest in the area was the worst fights between
Bosnian Serbs The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби Босне и Херцеговине, Srbi Bosne i Hercegovine), often referred to as Bosnian Serbs ( sr-cyrl, босански Срби, bosanski Srbi) or Herzegovinian Serbs ( sr-cyrl, ...
and U.N. forces in Bosnia in 2 years, when the fighting first began in the Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. About 3 million mines were laid down during this war.


Reactions

In a tribute to Francis Tomasic on May 26, 1994, in the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
, a speech was given to honor him. The speech mentioned that the combat zones are unpredictable, with the ones in the new Republic of Yugoslavia being the most unforeseeable. An acquaintance of Tomasic stated he had "inexhaustible sweetness and that he was not someone who understood malice."


See also

*
Spin (magazine) ''Spin'' (stylized in all caps as ''SPIN'') is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr. Now owned by Next Management Partners, the magazine is an online publication since it stopped issuing a print edition in 2012 ...
* Kurt Schork, another US journalist who covered the Bosnian war and who was killed on assignment in Sierra Leone. *
List of journalists killed in Europe This is a list of journalists killed in Europe (as a continent), divided by country. While journalists in the European Union (EU) generally work in good conditions, there are cases of murdered journalists, and many of them remain unpunished. Thi ...


References


External links


The Journalists Memorial
{{Bosnian War American war correspondents Bosnian War Spin magazine journalists Journalists killed while covering the Yugoslav Wars Landmine victims May 1994 in Europe