Novi x.MP3: Sarajevo, New York, Roma

Pismo prenosimo u originalu:

Well, we made it back (24 hours from Frankfurt - those damn Atlantic winds made us re-route). I must say, Im happy to be back in America. Everyone in Croatia and Bosnia were so nice and the concerts were quite successful. Danny, Cliff, Emir and Ivan performed at the highest level! We had radio and TV interviews, a press conference, autograph signings, an awards presentation, etc. Incredible food and drink. We came back with gifts from people that told us that our coming to their town was the event of the year. Wow! During the giving of the Peace Marker ceremony, Zenica’s mayor arranged a choir to sing a famous Opera song just for us! What a feeling when 40 people sing directly to you! Out of all of this, what enlightened me the most was finding out what really happened during the war between Bosnia, Croatia & Serbia.

Rock and Roll aside... this was real life.

We take so much for granted in our everyday lives. Imagine Miami (backed with a fully stocked army) invading and taking over Fort Myers simply because they want the land for themselves. Imagine Tampa joining in because Miami said, "well divide Fort Myers in half with you!" Normal people like you and I fighting with whatever means we had to save our city. Shotguns against anti-aircraft machine guns, knives against bazookas, 260 quality tanks against 2 run-down tanks (one pulled on a flatbed truck because it had no tracks). We walked through the beautiful, historic city of Sarajevo (Home of the 84 Olympic Games) and saw where buildings, friends, family, businesses USED to be, 10 years ago. I was amazed that the Sarajevo commoners kept the Serbian Army at bay for 4 years with what little they had. Their city was completely surrounded with Serbian tanks, guns, troops. No electricity, gas, oil or food for four years. Everything was smuggled in by brave people, most of whom lost their lives getting the food, guns, medical supplies inside the city. We met some very brave people that engineered a tunnel underneath the Sarajevo airport stretching over one mile long. This tunnel saved the lives of 300,000 people trapped in the city of Sarajevo by allowing goods to get into the city and the wounded to get out. Senseless fighting. The UN, NATO and the USA did nothing to stop this... until President Bill Clinton finally learned of what REALLY was going on... ethnic cleansing. Clinton stopped the siege by showing some force.

Before we left to Bosnia Emir told us a lot about this beautiful country and now I understand why he loves it so much. All people we met there were so great and their hospitality was unforgettable. After seeing this and walking beside some of these people, I now know there are "super" people out there in the world. It is within us all. We all have the power to survive if given the task to defend for our survival. The rebuilding is still going on. About 30 miles from the borders are still desolate with a handful of people moving back to their ruined neighborhoods. There isn a Home Depot around this part of the world. Rebuilding is slow and you must barter or trade for things like a window or door.