A heroic military rescue operation in 1944 has inspired a local mission in 2009.

John R. Wilson of Johnstown is working to get native son George Musulin honored for his part in one of the most daring rescues in U.S. military history.

Musulin, who grew up in Franklin Borough, was one of the key players in the successful extraction of hundreds of American servicemen from Yugoslavia – right out from under the noses of Hitler and Nazi Germany.

The courage and conviction showed by Musulin and others inspired the 2007 book “The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II.”

Wilson read author Gregory A. Freeman’s account of “Operation Halyard.” Now Wilson is lobbying for Musulin to join those enshrined in the Cambria County Military Hall of Fame, housed at the War Memorial Arena.

“Everybody I’ve talked to right down the line thinks he ought to be in,” Wilson said. “The Forgotten 500” paints a picture of a 1944 Yugoslavia besieged by the German blitzkrieg and slowly falling under the influence of Russia and the spread of Communism.

Allied forces made frequent bombing runs aimed at German oil fields in neighboring Romania. Sometimes, the bombers failed to make it back to their departure points in Italy, forcing crew members to parachute into the mountainous terrain. On the ground in Yugoslavia, Freeman writes, the survivors were befriended by peasants in the Serbian region of the country and their resistance leader, Gen. Draza Mihailovich.

The general’s rag-tag forces were fighting two enemies – the invading Germans and their own Communist countrymen – while struggling to get by on meager food and clothing.

Musulin was among those who helped build a makeshift airstrip near the town of Pranjane, and organized late-night flights into and out of the region carrying those downed servicemen to safety – against incredible odds.

“George Musulin was very determined to fight for what he believed was right,” Freeman said in a telephone interview from his home in Georgia.

“When he got on the ground and was able to see with his own eyes what was going on, and once he determined for himself who was in the right, he would do whatever he could.”

Freeman chronicles the rise of the U.S. Office of Strategic Services – the precursor to the CIA. Musulin was essentially a spy working with the OSS during “Operation Halyard.”

Archives at The Tribune-Democrat tell little of George Musulin. Stories describe him as a local athlete – and indeed he played football at the University of Pittsburgh in 1936, when the Panthers won the Rose Bowl, and spent a year with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1938 – two years before Art Rooney’s team became known as the Steelers.

Otherwise, references to Musulin include a few wire-service reports of his efforts to speak on Mihailovich’s behalf during the general’s trial in Belgrade in 1946 – where Mihail-ovich was executed for war crimes – and the reprinting of a longer story about the Pranjane mission. That story – which originally appeared in Blue Book magazine – was published over 10 days in the Johnstown Democrat.

“He is an example of how so many of these men faded into history without getting the recognition they deserved,” Freeman said. “There are so many of them, just like George Musulin, who played such pivotal roles and who deserve the thanks of a nation – of a couple of nations actually – but who never got the recognition.”

Freeman’s book began to change all of that, and then Wilson took up the torch locally.

Marty Kuhar and his Cambria County Military Hall of Fame committee will meet in September. A 2010 class – which could possibly include Musulin – would be inducted next spring.

Guidelines for candidates for enshrinement include:

n Residency in Cambria County during their lifetimes.

n Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, or ...

n Awarded the U.S. Army Distinguished Service Cross, the U.S. Navy Cross or the U.S. Air Force Cross – all given for extraordinary heroism, or ...

n Achieved a high position of leadership in the armed forces, or ...

n Brought national recognition to the county for participation in an historical event.

“Just reading about George Musulin, you can see that he certainly would be a viable candidate,” Kuhar said. “I can’t just say, ‘He’ll be in.’ ... But, clearly, he has done a heck of a lot.”

Kuhar echoed Freeman’s thoughts about the anonymity of the participants in “Operation Halyard” – which can be traced to both the political strife of the time and the involvement of the OSS and its clandestine ways.

“I never heard of the gentleman prior to this,” Kuhar said of Musulin. “You have to wonder how many other people are out there that we don’t know about.

“That’s the sad part, really. Everyone knows about (Iwo Jima flag-raiser) Michael Strank, (flying ace) Buzz Wagner.”

Freeman, a former Associated Press reporter, will visit Serbia later this month to help celebrate the release of the Serbian translation of his book.

His excursion will include a July 21 trip to Pranjane, where he will walk the land traveled so many years ago by Musulin and his colleagues.

“The Serbian people really loved this story,” Freeman said. “They remember ‘Operation Halyard’ better than the rest of the world does. They see that effort as a proud moment in their history.”

You can bet Freeman will pause to think of Musulin and the rest of the mission’s heroes as he passes through that region.

“Musulin stands out to me as one of the more vibrant people in this story,” Freeman said. “I would have loved to have met him personally. He was big in every way – not just physically, but also his character, his personality.”

Wilson was so inspired by the story of “Operation Halyard” that he made it his own mission to draw attention to that incredible rescue, and to see a local man honored for his role in flying so many U.S. servicemen to safety all those years ago.

When asked why this has become so important to him, Wilson said: “I was on a flight crew during the Korean War, although I never saw combat.

“But I have wondered, if I had ever gotten shot down, would there be a George Musulin there to bring me home.”



Hall of Fame

Some notable members of the Cambria County Military Hall of Fame:

-- Lt. Col. Boyd “Buzz” Wagner, first U.S. flying ace of World War II.

-- Sgt. Michael Strank, immortalized in a photograph of Marines raising a flag on Iwo Jima.

-- Gen. Jacob M. Campbell, commander of the 54th Regimen in the Civil War and a member of the U.S. Congress.

-- Maj. Gen. Charles T. Menoher, division commander in the Army during World War I.



Freeman’s works

A list of books written by author Gregory A. Freeman:

-- “Lay This Body Down: The 1921 Murders of Eleven Plantation Slaves” (1999).

-- “Sailors to the End: The Deadly Fire on the USS Forrestal and the Heroes Who Fought It” (2002).

-- “The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II” (2007).

-- “Fixing Hell: An Army Psychologist Confronts Abu Ghraib” (2008).

-- “Troubled Water: Race, Mutiny and Bravery on a U.S. Aircraft Carrier” (scheduled for September release).

On the Web: www.gregoryafreeman.com



Chip Minemyer is the editor of The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 532-5091.