On the anniversary of Operation Storm, we remember untold stories of brave individuals whose deeds remained in the shadows. While one hero did not live to see his village freed, another remained silent for years about his crucial role in the surrender of an entire enemy corps.
As we mark the anniversary of the military-police operation Storm, stories emerge about heroes whose deeds often went unrecognized. Two separate but fatefully connected testimonies shed light on the human and military dimensions of this crucial operation. On one hand, there is the poignant story of Darko Lisac Foxy, a legendary hero of the 2nd Brigade Gromovi, who was killed on the first day of Storm while liberating his village. On the other hand, details emerge about General Miljenko Crnjac, commander of the Karlovac Operational Zone, whose decisive role in the surrender of the 21st Kordun Corps of the Serbian Army of Krajina was overshadowed for decades by another general.
Darko Lisac Foxy was a prominent member of the reconnaissance-sabotage company. On the brink of adulthood, he went to war and quickly learned its horrors while fighting on the difficult frontlines in Banovina. Throughout the war, he gave everything a hero can give, and his fate was tragically sealed on the first day of Operation Storm. As the source states, as soon as the operation began, he rushed to liberate his birthplace, but he did not live to see its freedom.
While in the public sphere, credit for the surrender of the 21st Kordun Corps of the Serbian Army of Krajina, which numbered about 5,000 soldiers under the command of Colonel Čedomir Bulat, is mostly attributed to General Petar Stipetić, comrades of General Miljenko Crnjac claim otherwise. They emphasize that it was Crnjac, as commander of the Karlovac Operational Zone, who led the entire capture operation along a 180-kilometer line from Kupa to Kapela. General Ljubo Ćesić Rojs often pointed out that Crnjac was a "textbook example" of a soldier who did the hardest operational part of the job, while Stipetić received the glory, which he considers an injustice inflicted by later political structures.
A key role in the surrender process was also played by Colonel Tihomir Brckan, head of the Office for Relations with the UN and the EC, who entered the war at the age of 31. As early as 1992, he promised the commanders of the 21st Corps safety if they decided to surrender. "In 1992, I told their commanders that we would be there when they decided to surrender and guaranteed their safety. They laughed at that then, but in 1995, the surrender really happened. The role of General Miljenko Crnjac was exceptional," Brckan recalled, adding that General Pavao Miljavac may have played an even more important role.
Brckan also revealed the chronology of the negotiations that preceded Storm itself. The central state commission organized a meeting in Turanj on January 13, 1994, attended by General Stipetić on the Croatian side and Colonel Kosta Novaković on behalf of the rebel Serbs. Brckan explained that this confirmed the 1991 assessment of the need for negotiations as a form of special warfare. By mid-March 1994, eight meetings at all levels had been held in Turanj and Vojnovac.
On the first day of Storm, August 4, 1995, Brckan's office deliberately spread disinformation among international observers about the alleged surrender of part of the enemy units to create panic and undermine morale. The same day, a message was sent to the Command of the 21st Kordun Corps about readiness to discuss surrender. The response came around 6 p.m., with the condition of agreeing to a ceasefire. Six hours later, confirmed information arrived about readiness to negotiate the surrender of the entire corps, and a meeting between Brckan and Serbian Lieutenant Colonel Slobodan Lazarević was scheduled for August 5 at 3:30 a.m. in Turanj.
The first meeting failed, and the deputy commander of the Karlovac Operational Zone, Ivo Polović, refused to authorize the continuation of activities, claiming they lacked the authority. Despite this, it was decided to continue negotiations at their own risk. Brckan revealed that they believed negotiators on both sides would be liquidated.
After Zagreb took control of the process, Brckan and liaison officer Kasunić were sent to Sisak to General Stipetić on August 7, 1995. Brckan testifies that Stipetić stalled, waiting for moves by UN generals, the Canadian Peters and the Frenchman, who allegedly had connections with Colonel Bulat and the RSK Interior Minister Tošo Pajić. "Even Stipetić didn't believe it when our officers presented it to him. That stalling was pure time-wasting," Brckan said.
The situation was further complicated by more than 50,000 refugees who clogged the Topusko-Glina road, creating a human wall between Croatian forces and the 21st Corps. The UNPROFOR commander for the North, Ukrainian General Mokrenac, warned Brckan that someone's goal was to draw the Croatian Army into a conflict with the corps and provoke civilian casualties. After Stipetić approved the attack, at 2:30 p.m., senior officers saluted Brckan and Kasunić. "Then we took Bulat to Stipetić, who was further away from us, behind the line of separation, and Bulat handed over his 21st Corps to him," Brckan described the final act of surrender on August 8, 1995, which ended Operation Storm.
General Miljenko Crnjac, now 65 years old and in poor health, holds the status of an unquestionable hero in his native Požega region. He was the first wartime commander of the 123rd Požega Brigade, formed in the autumn of 1991, which by the end of that year liberated the occupied western part of the Požega municipality and took positions toward Pakrac up to Španovica. In early 1992, he was transferred to Zagreb as deputy chief of the General Staff for the ground forces, and later served as assistant to the chief inspector of the Croatian Army and assistant minister for personnel affairs. During Storm, as the youngest general, units under his command broke through to Slunj and reached the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. From March 12, 1996, he was head of the military cabinet of President Franjo Tuđman and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. Although his comrades are aware of Stipetić's enormous contributions, one informed source concludes: "Of course, Stipetić had enormous merits, but not everything is fair and just, especially when the merits of Crnjac and Miljavac are ignored."
His wife Ružica, who cares for him, confirmed that Crnjac is immobile and can barely communicate, while his comrades occasionally speak publicly demanding that his deeds be recognized and appropriate honors be awarded.
