The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II

The OSS agent who commanded Operation Halyard from the Fifteenth Air Force base in Bari, Italy, Vujnovich serves as perhaps the book’s central figure. Vujnovich provided Freeman with numerous recollections and also supplied 25 of the book’s 38 black-and-white photographs.

A Pittsburgh native, Vujnovich first appears briefly at the end of Chapter 1, where Freeman introduces him as the operation’s control agent. Vujnovich does not appear again until Chapter 6, where Freeman describes Vujnovich’s years of study in Yugoslavia, as well as his meeting and falling in love with Mirjana Lazic.

With the help of the American consulate in Belgrade, Vujnovich married Mirjana, and together the newlyweds left Yugoslavia for Hungary and then flew to Bulgaria before crossing the border into Turkey. From there, the couple traveled to Jerusalem, where they spent a year working with British intelligence officials. In May 1942, the Vujnoviches arrived in Cairo, Egypt, just ahead of advancing German armies led by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. With remarkable good fortune, Vujnovich quickly landed a job with a commercial airline and then used his British-intelligence connections to secure visas for himself and Mirjana, allowing them to escape Cairo. After reaching West Africa, he put Mirjana on a plane for America.

Vujnovich returned to the United States for OSS training and to reunite with Mirjana. Upon completing his training, he returned to Cairo and then was stationed at Bari, Italy. In Bari, Vujnovich received a letter from Mirjana informing him that reports out of Yugoslavia suggested that as many as 100 Allied airmen were stranded behind enemy lines and under General Mihailovich’s protection at Pranjane. Vujnovich then took the lead in organizing and directing Operation Halyard.

After the war, Vujnovich returned to work in the airline industry. He and Mirjana lived a long and eventful life together until her death in 2003. He remained angry and bitter over the Allied betrayal of General Mihailovich and the Communist takeover of Yugoslavia. In 2005, he joined other surviving airmen and agents in a ceremony to present Mihailovich’s long-neglected Legion of Merit award to the general’s daughter, Gordana Mihailovich.

Employee in the Yugoslav embassy in Washington DC, and wife of the OSS agent George Vujnovich, Mirjana alerted her husband to the fact that perhaps 100 downed American airmen had gathered in the hills of Yugoslavia under the protection of General Draza Mihailovich. Without her information, it is likely that no such rescue would have occurred.

A native of Yugoslavia, Mirjana first appears in Chapter 6, where Freeman describes her meeting and falling in love with Vujnovich. The story of the young couple’s escape from Yugoslavia, which takes them across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, occupies Chapters 6-8. While making this long journey, Mirjana endured constant anxiety, for she was in far greater personal danger than her American-born husband. As a Yugoslav native with British and American connections through her university, Mirjana was wanted by the Gestapo in Belgrade. In Jerusalem, where she and George remained for a year in 1941-42, Mirjana did translating and broadcasting work for British intelligence. She escaped Cairo with her husband in May 1942, as German armies approached the city. Thanks to George’s new job with a commercial airline, Mirjana secured a flight out of West Africa that eventually took her to Miami. From there, she traveled by train to the Yugoslav embassy in Washington, DC.

After the war. Mirjana studied art history and later worked in both radio and publishing. Like her husband, she remained anguished over the fate of Yugoslavia. She died in 2003 at the age of 90.

Leader of the Serbian-dominated Chetnik army in Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia, General Mihailovich ordered his troops to protect the downed US airmen at all costs. Mihailovich’s support allowed the American OSS to organize and execute Operation Halyard. Mihailovich opposed both the Nazis and the Tito-led Partisans who wanted to turn Yugoslavia into a Communist state.

Mihailovich’s background included experience as a colonel in World War I, when Serbia suffered catastrophic losses. He was an intelligent, dignified, egalitarian-minded leader, a fierce fighter but also unwilling to waste his soldiers’ lives in reckless and futile combat against the Germans. This prudence allowed Mihailovich’s enemies, as well as British and US intelligence agents who supported his Communist rival Tito, to falsely portray Mihailovich as a Nazi collaborator. An anti-Mihailovich plot orchestrated by a Soviet agent inside British intelligence helped deceive Allied leaders, in particular British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and prompted the Allies to abandon Mihailovich in favor of the Communist Tito.

When Tito took control of Yugoslavia, Mihailovich became a fugitive. He grew ill and at times had to be carried from village to village on a stretcher to hide from his Communist pursuers. Tito’s forces caught up with Mihailovich in March 1946, and on June 10, 1946, he was put on trial. Mihailovich was convicted and executed one week later. His death caused grief and outrage among the American airmen whom he had protected. As a result of this injustice, US public sentiment turned against Tito though the US government remained complicit in a cover-up of Mihailovich’s true story. President Truman posthumously granted Mihailovich the prestigious Legion of Merit award, but the US State Department successfully lobbied the president to keep the award secret.

Musulin was the lead OSS agent directing Operation Halyard on the ground in Pranjane, Yugoslavia. A former steelworker and a one-time star lineman on the University of Pittsburgh football team, the burly and aggressive Musulin took a no-nonsense approach that rankled superiors and colleagues who seemed to have different agendas.

Musulin appears briefly in the book’s first chapter, greeting a group of American airmen that includes Clare Musgrove and then informing the men that a rescue mission is underway. Musulin later appears as a pro-Mihailovich OSS agent reporting on the situation from inside Yugoslavia in 1943-1944 though in early 1944 he was ordered out of Yugoslavia when the Allies, led by British officials hostile to Mihailovich. Vujnovich selected Musulin to lead the rescue mission on the ground because of Musulin’s prior experience with and strong affection for the Chetniks.

In Pranjane, Musulin directed the construction of an impromptu airstrip and the rescue mission that began on the night of August 9, 1944. After watching the first wave of C-47 cargo planes narrowly avert disaster, Musulin ordered a halt to nighttime operations and opted for the riskier daylight rescue, which, thanks to cover from US fighters, succeeded. Musulin angered his superiors when he approved the evacuation of two Chetniks in need of medical attention. For two weeks, he also defied orders to withdraw from Pranjane and return to Bari.

After the war, Musulin lost touch with former comrades from Operation Halyard. Those who saw him in later years remembered him as bitter and disillusioned over the Allies’ betrayal of the Chetniks. Musulin died in 1987 at the age of 72.

A radio operator for the OSS, Jibilian served as part of the three-man team, led by Musulin, that parachuted into Pranjane and directed Operation Halyard from the ground. Jibilian differs from many of the book’s key figures in that he was not Yugoslavian or of Yugoslav descent. He was a second-generation Armenian immigrant to America, raised by his cousins in Toledo, Ohio, after his family suffered multiple tragedies related to the Turkish-Armenian War of 1920, including his mother’s suicide.

Jibilian, whom Freeman introduces in Chapter 11, is the last of the book’s major figures to make his appearance. Vujnovich selected Jibilian for the mission due to Jibilian’s prior experience behind enemy lines. By the time Vujnovich received approval to go ahead with Operation Halyard, Jibilian had already parachuted into Yugoslavia and helped rescue a smaller group of downed airmen. On August 8, Musulin ordered Jibilian to radio Bari and indicate that Operation Halyard could begin the following night.

After the war, Jibilian tried telling his story in the newspapers and worked with other airmen to clear Mihailovich’s name. He was present at the 2005 ceremony for Gordana Mihailovich, and even then he was dismayed that the US State Department insisted on keeping the ceremony private.    

A B-24 pilot, Felman bailed out over Yugoslavia, survived his ordeal, escaped as part of Operation Halyard, and then helped lead the post-war effort to clear Mihailovich’s name.

Felman appears for the first time in Chapter 4. After bailing out of his B-24 in July 1944, Felman received a warm welcome from local villagers and learned through the English-speaking wife of a Chetnik colonel that Mihailovich had ordered his troops to protect the Americans. Later, after arriving at Pranjane, Felman joined Mihailovich’s troops in raids against the Germans. He also witnessed the aftermath of a characteristic Nazi atrocity: a village burned and its inhabitants murdered as retribution for the Chetniks hiding the American airmen. When the OSS agents arrived in Pranjane, Felman consulted with Musulin about the best way to execute Operation Halyard.

Felman returned to the United States before the end of the war and was appalled to discover that the press was printing lies about Mihailovich. To counter these lies, Felman wrote his own article, published in the New York Journal American, and then worked with other airmen to spread the truth and lobby the US government on behalf of Mihailovich. Felman died in November 1999 at the age of 78.

Clare Musgrove was a ball turret gunner from Hershey, Michigan, a small city north of Grand Rapids. After his B-24 bomber was damaged, Musgrove bailed out over Yugoslavia, survived, escaped, and lived to share his recollections with Freeman in the early 21st century.

Freeman introduces Musgrove in the first sentence of the first chapter, as he receives an armed escort from one Yugoslav village to another. Most of Chapter 2 focuses on Musgrove’s background, training, the story of his ill-fated flight on July 28, 1944, and how, with the help of friendly Chetnik soldiers, Musgrove found his way to Pranjane.

After the war, Musgrove continued his education: “Musgrove studied agriculture and forestry at Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences […], going on to a long career in the Michigan state cooperative extension service” (276). Musgrove was present, along with his grandson, at the 2005 ceremony for Gordana Mihailovich.

A navigator on a B-24, Orsini bailed out of his damaged bomber, survived, escaped with the other downed airmen, and lived to tell Freeman his story.

Orsini first appears in Chapter 3, which briefly describes his ill-fated flight of July 21, 1944, his first bombing mission over Ploesti. Orsini suffered a broken clavicle after crash-landing into a tree but was rescued by locals, eventually arriving in Pranjane.

Back in Bari following the rescue, Orsini was surprised to find his name on a list of servicemen killed in action. He also was incensed to hear Allied intelligence spreading lies about Mihailovich. Orsini returned to the United States before the end of the war: Freeman describes Orsini’s joyful reunion with his mother, who had received a telegram informing her that her son was missing in action but who knew nothing of his fate until after his rescue.

After the war, Orsini told his story to anyone who would listen, but it was a frustrating experience. On one social occasion, for instance, he overheard a fellow partygoer refer to Mihailovich as a Nazi collaborator. Orsini defended Mihailovich, giving his own first-hand account, but the man at the party insisted that Orsini must have been the exception. When he learned of Mihailovich’s execution in June 1946, Orsini wept.

A navigator on a B-17 equipped with an advanced radar system, Wilson bailed out of his damaged bomber, survived, escaped with the other downed airmen, and lived to tell Freeman his story.

Wilson first appears in Chapter 3, which describes in detail his escape from the damaged B-17 on July 15, 1944. Freeman later reveals that Wilson was rescued and protected by Chetniks before being reunited with most of his crewmates. On his journey to Pranjane, Wilson narrowly escaped detection by a Nazi officer thanks to a timely warning from his Chetnik companions.

After Mihailovich’s arrest, Wilson stated: “Even If we can’t save him, we just want him to know that we remember what he did for us, that somebody appreciates how much he risked” (254). In 2005, Wilson attended the 2005 posthumous Legion of Merit ceremony in honor of Mihailovich.

Tito ruled Yugoslavia as Communist dictator from the end of World War II until his death in 1980. During the war, Tito’s Partisans fought both the Nazis and Mihailovich’s Chetniks. Because Tito inflicted many casualties upon the German invaders, he was seen by Allied leaders as the more effective of the two Yugoslav resistance leaders. In part to appease Stalin, and in part due to Soviet agents in British and American intelligence, the Allies in 1943 threw their full support behind Tito. After the war, Tito ordered the arrest of Mihailovich, who was then tried and executed.

Founder of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), precursor to the CIA, Donovan led America’s intelligence agency from its inception in 1942 through the end of World War II. A former college football star, decorated World War One veteran, and law-school classmate of President Roosevelt, “Wild Bill” gave the OSS both direction and energy. Donovan’s no-nonsense personality and results-driven approach allowed the OSS to perform its secret yet essential functions while blending the various talents of its heterogeneous recruits.

Freeman describes Donovan’s background and OSS leadership at length in Chapter 10. Donovan’s most important contribution to the events described in The Forgotten 500 was his personal appeal to President Roosevelt, accompanied by a very blunt insistence that the OSS ignore the British and organize its own mission to rescue the downed airmen in Yugoslavia.

The 32nd president of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt served as commander-in-chief during the Second World War until his death on April 12, 1945. He is the only person to have been elected president four times.

Roosevelt first appears in Chapter 2, where Freeman notes that US bombing runs over Ploesti, Romania, were so dangerous that the entire operation required the president’s approval. At the urging of Donovan, Roosevelt approved the mission to rescue downed US airmen in Yugoslavia. Although he approved Operation Halyard, Roosevelt forbade Vujnovich from directing the operation on the ground in Pranjane for fear that he would depart from Allied policy by giving aid to the Chetnik forces.

British Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945, Winston Churchill guided Britain to victory in World War II. From 1941 onward, Churchill worked with Allied leaders to defeat Nazi Germany.

A principled anti-Communist who often clashed with his ally Stalin, Churchill was nonetheless duped by Communist moles in British intelligence. Through the work of James Klugmann and other highly placed Soviet agents, Churchill came to believe that General Mihailovich could not be trusted to fight the German invaders; that Mihailovich’s Chetniks secretly collaborated with the Nazis; and that the Allies should throw all support behind Tito. Churchill even insisted that OSS agent George Musulin be ordered out of Yugoslavia in March 1944 to deprive Mihailovich of Allied support. Churchill later acknowledged his grave error in supporting Tito.

A Soviet agent working in British intelligence, Klugmann orchestrated the pro-Tito, anti-Mihailovich propaganda campaign that led the Allies to abandon Mihailovich in 1943. Klugmann’s role as a Communist spy was not confirmed until the release of classified information in 1997.

Klugmann first appears in Chapter 9, in which Freeman explains his key role in the Allied abandonment of Mihailovich. Klugmann worked alongside Vujnovich in Bari, where Allied intelligence officials fed the American airmen false information about the Yugoslav civil war and Mihailovich’s supposed hostility toward the Allies.

The Chetniks were Serbian soldiers loyal to General Mihailovich. In 1943-1944, the Chetniks welcomed, protected, and helped evacuate hundreds of downed American airmen during Operation Halyard. Along with the villagers, the Chetniks are the previously unsung heroes of The Forgotten 500.

During World War II, the Chetniks fought both the Nazis invaders and the Communist Partisans, with whom they were already engaged in a civil war. While the fight against the Nazis liberated Yugoslavia, a Soviet-backed Communist regime ruled post-war Yugoslavia. The Chetniks did not receive the Allied support for which they hoped and instead were the victims of Communist propaganda.

The Partisans were Yugoslav soldiers loyal to Josip Broz Tito. Though not all Partisans were ideological Communists, their dual victory over the Nazis and the Chetniks allowed Tito to impose a Communist dictatorship on postwar Yugoslavia. Thanks to their ferocious war against the Germans and anti-Chetnik propaganda, the Partisans won the support of the Allies in 1943.