April 28th 1998, Tuzla (Bosnia-Herzegovina) 

    Last week was filled with excitement for me as I traveled outside Tuzla most of the week.  Monday we went to Doboj (pronounced dough boy) and Tuesday I flew back to Germany for a commander's conference.  Let me tell you about the Doboj trip.
     We traveled to Doboj in HUMMVs (like the one in the photo).  Although it's only about 50 kilometers from Tuzla to Doboj, the trip takes about two hours (in a HUMMV).  The road winds through a scenic valley located in what is known as the "ZOS", or zone of separation.  This is the area between the two entities of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Republika Serbska and the Federation, where soldiers and weapons are prohibited under the Dayton Accords.  Nearly the entire route traverses the valley.  Doboj is located northwest of Tuzla just opposite the Federation side of the boundary.  As you cross the Bosna river and enter the city, there are stark differences one notices almost immediately.  The most obvious is the sudden use of the cyrillic alphabet.  You also notice people are less friendly, heardly paying any attention to SFOR soldiers.  Their attitude is far different from the Federation side of the boundary where people still wave and smile when SFOR soldiers pass by.  These are clear signs one has departed the Bosniac-Croat Federation and entered Serb country.  Bosniac is the term many  "Muslims" have chosen to call themselves rather than rely on the religious term Muslim.

        Doboj had a mixed population before the civil war (1992-95).  About 40% of the residents were Muslim.  Sadly, Doboj lies in a strategic location of vital importance to the Serbs.  East of Doboj and surrounded on three sides by the Federation is the "Ozren Pocket", a dagger shaped strip of mountainous terrain which the Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina (ABiH), commonly known as the "Muslim army", was never able to capture.  The Serbs refused to surrender the area mostly because it is the home of the Ozren  Serb Orthodox monastery, an important site to the Serbs.  The monastery sits at the far eastern corner of the Ozren pocket.  The Serbs are determined to never allow muslims to occupy it and fought to retain control during the war.  The Serbs considered Doboj essential for holding on to the Ozren pocket and forced the Muslims and Croat majority to leave Doboj.  The result is a radically different city today.  Doboj still has around 30,000 residents, however, they are nearly all Serb (99%).

        The purpose of our trip was to visit our soldiers stationed with the NORDPOL Brigade.  The NORDPOL Brigade consists of soldiers from the nordic countries (Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden) and Poland.  After an interesting tour of the facilities and meeting key people we sat down to a typical nordic lunch, lots of salad, breads, and fish.  I found the meal to be a great change of pace from the food we eat back at Tuzla.  Although the soldiers of NORDPOL Brigade are members of the same NATO division as we are, they live a much different life.  NORDPOL soldiers are able to leave the base to patronize local shops and restaurants.  Life is a bit more comfortable for the soldiers assigned to NORDPOL Brigade for this reason alone.

        As we departed late in the afternoon I stopped to visit one of the "pirate" music vendors outside the gate.  They sell music CDs for 7 Deutsche Marks (DM) each and computer software for 20 DM.  Imagine, and original version of Office 97 for $12.   What a deal?  Honestly I passed on the deal and don't regret it.

         I rode in the cupola of our HUMMV for the trip back to Tuzla.  From that vantage point I had a fantastic view of the valley and villages along the route as we passed through the "ZOS".  The view was incredible.  One has to wonder to one's self why all the killing had to occur in such a beautiful place. The scenes are clearly out of the Balkans.  As we quietly enter the 21st century, one still sees horse drawn carts, fields tilled by hand, and small plots worked by hardy peasants.  Little seems to have changed in this corner of the world.  Bosnians still walk up and down the roads with their own feet as the most common form of transportation for many people.  You see strange sights everywhere you look.  German plated, late model Mercedes careen down the road, winding around corners at excessive speeds, just missing people walking along the road.  Perhaps the strangest thing is it all seems to be normal and no one expects anything else.  Considering the barbarity of the recent civil war, out-of-control drivers probably are nothing more than an annoyance to most folks.
 

Chris Wyatt

Return to previous page