2004 Press Releases

U.S. Veterans and Families Return to Slovakia to Mark 60th Anniversary of SNP

Bratislava, August 27, 2004

U.S. airmen shot down over Slovakia who then fought with Slovak partisans in the Slovak National Uprising are returning to Slovakia August 26-September 3 to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the SNP. These airmen include Leo Kituski, Neal Cobb, and Richard Moulton, as well as family members of Edward Baranski and Theron Arnett. Joining the veterans is also Igor Nabelek, a Slovak partisan in the SNP who helped the airmen and moved later in life to the U.S., where he currently teaches at the University of Tennessee.

When these airmen were shot down over Slovakia, plans for their rescue via Tri Duby airfield close to Banska Bystrica coincided with American attempts to assist the Slovak National Uprising using secret Office of Strategic Services (OSS) missions. When the German offensive caused the closure of Tri Duby, many of the Americans fled to Banska Bystrica to hold out for help. When German forces captured Banska Bystrica, the Americans went with the SNP volunteer fighters to the mountains to escape capture. Some of them were successful, others not so fortunate. The OSS operatives, with few exceptions, were captured by the Germans and executed in Mauthausen concentration camp. Other servicemen were held in Bratislava before being transferred to Vienna, while some eluded capture until they met up with advancing allied forces.

Sixty years later, some of these American veterans and families of veterans will be joining Slovaks in Bratislava and Banska Bystrica in commemorating the SNP. Some will visit the families that helped them when they were in such dire need in 1944. Others will visit their crash sites, and places where they hid from the Nazi forces. The veterans will also attend ceremonial functions in several towns in Slovakia. Families will be carrying the stories of a father, husband, or grandfather to the SNP Museum in Banska Bystrica and sharing these stories with Slovaks whose families also valiantly fought in the SNP.

Recognizing the historic roots of the strong friendship between the U.S. and Slovakia, the veterans and families of veterans will be honored in Bratislava at a reception on August 27 at the Radisson SAS Carlton Hotel, sponsored by the Carlton and the U.S. Embassy, and at a second reception in Banska Bystrica at the SNP Museum on August 30.