Ivan Svalina, Stipan Dundović, and Miroslav Vođera were killed on August 5, 1995, in fighting near Golubić, and their comrades and family still honor their memory today.
In the final battles of the military-police operation Storm, on August 5, 1995, three young members of the 4th Guards Brigade were killed: Ivan Svalina, Stipan Dundović, and Miroslav Vođera. They were fatally wounded in a hamlet near Golubić, at a moment when Croatian forces were approaching Knin and the final liberation of the occupied territory.
According to Ante Brekalo, commander of the 2nd Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 4th Guards Brigade, his unit advanced over Dinara toward Knin when they encountered strong resistance near Golubić. "It was an honor to have such men in my company, men I could lead," Brekalo told HRT, recalling how the young soldiers died in direct combat there.
Miroslav Vođera, who had defected from the former JNA to join the Croatian Army, was killed next to a house. Fellow soldier Ivica Bošnjak remembers him as a true warrior. "He gave his life just hours before it was declared that everything was free," Bošnjak said. He also described the course of the battle: "Fire was exchanged, they threw grenades at us. We hit the ground, and I was throwing grenades back up to the upper floor." According to him, Vođera tried to persuade the enemy to surrender, but was killed as soon as he moved to enter the house.
The bodies of Stipan Dundović and Ivan Svalina were found by fellow soldier Miro Moro. They were 20, 22, and 23 years old. Moro says he went through various situations in the war, but these losses hit him the hardest. He remembers Svalina most vividly, a young man from his village of Crivac. "He's a kid from my village, who came to Paljuv in late 1993 or early 1994. That morning I saw him with a smile on his face. I didn't even know he had come to the war. He wasn't even 19 when he arrived," Moro recalled.
Svalina was also remembered as a cheerful person by Commander Brekalo. "I remember him as a kid who came to our unit at 18. He had a bright smile and was always ready to help. With his courage and cheerfulness, he instilled confidence in the whole company. He was a true fighter who never left anyone behind," Brekalo said.
Every year on the anniversary of Operation Storm, comrades gather at the site where the three soldiers were killed and where a memorial has been erected. Josip Bebek, president of the 4th Guards Brigade Veterans Association in Šibenik-Knin County, emphasizes that veterans from Zadar, Split, Sinj, Imotski, Šibenik, and parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina gather on that occasion. He also reminded of Dražen Kuduz, who died the same day in an accident at the very entrance to Knin. "They will never be forgotten as long as we live," Bebek said.
From Svalina's native village of Crivac, 150 villagers went to the Homeland War, nearly half the village. Svalina was their youngest victim. "A part of my soul disappeared when he left," said his sister Marija Vučić. She and her other sister also spent time on the front lines. "Four years, in the 114th Brigade, from Zadar to Dubrovnik, on all front lines," she added.
Last year, a monument to Ivan was erected in the center of the village, the work of sculptor Petar Melvan. The Municipality of Muć plans to open a memorial room this autumn to pay tribute to all the fallen from that area.
