Richard L. Felman

Richard L. Felman
Born	(1921-05-29)May 29, 1921 New York City, United States of America
Died	November 13, 1999(1999-11-13) (aged 78) Tucson, Arizona, United States
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army Air Forces United States Air Force
Years of service	1942–1968
Rank	Major
Unit	415th Bombardment Squadron, 98th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force
Battles/wars	World War II Korean War
Awards	Purple Heart Legion of Merit Royal Order of Ravna Gora 27 military decorations
Other work	Author of Mihailovich and I

Richard L. Felman (New York City,New York, United States of America, 29 May 1921 – Tucson, Arizona, United States, 13 November 1999) was an aviation officer in the United States Army. He participated in combat missions during World War II and the Korean War, receiving 27 awards and decorations by the end of his military career. He was one of the 500 American and Allied airmen rescued in the secret Halyard Mission. His book "Mihailovich and I" is about his World War II experiences in Yugoslavia.

Biography

Felman was born in The Bronx, New York State to a Jewish family who had immigrated from Poland. He had a brother, Irwin, who was born six years earlier. When Felman turned 21, he joined the United States Air Force on 24 July 1942 and became a pilot-navigator.

In early 1944, he was assigned to the 415th Bombardment Squadron, 98th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force, stationed at Lecce, Italy, as a second lieutenant in a Consolidated B-24 Liberator. His Liberator bomber was nicknamed "Never a Dull Moment". In July 1944, Fellman's B-24 was hit by a German ME-109s and 10 of the 11 crew members managed to parachute from the damaged aircraft into Yugoslavia. Fellman was later awarded the Purple Heart for his soldierly conduct during the crash.

The Americans landed in central Serbia when it was under Nazi-occupation at the time, but they fell into territory controlled by the Chetniks, a resistance movement led by General Dragoljub Mihailović. The Chetniks protected them from German pursuit, who burned villages in revenge and shot 200 women and children. Fellman and his crew were safe with the Chetniks and were successfully evacuated from Pranjani, Serbia, on 10 August 1944, in what the Serbs called "Operation Air Bridge", another name for Operation Halyard. More than 500 downed American airmen were rescued by Operation Halyard, with the help of the Chetniks.

Fellman was decorated by King Peter II Karađorđević with the "Royal Order of Ravna Gora" for his continued advocacy to clear the name of the king's Deputy Minister of War (General Dragoljub Mihailovich).

The Chetniks were defeated before the end of the war diplomatically. Draža Mihailović was put on trial by the Communists in 1946, accused of war crimes. Fellman and 21 rescued American pilots wrote to President Harry Truman and the U.S. government in April 1946 that they would travel, at their own expense, to Belgrade to testify at the trial in Mihailović's defense.

They were refused by the United States of America government, because official Washington was friendly to the Partisans in the final stages of the war. The United States of America government did not want to worsen relations with the new communist authorities in Yugoslavia. Despite Fellman's insistence, he was unable to reach Belgrade. Dragoljub Mihailović was found guilty at trial, shot, and buried in an unmarked grave on 17 July 1946. They have yet to find Mihailovich's remains.

For Felman's advocacy for the rescued American pilots, Mihailović and the Chetnik movement, and on the recommendation of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, were posthumously awarded the Legion of Merit by U.S. President Harry Truman

In 1970, Richard Felman attempted to get the U.S. Congress of the United States of America to pass an urgent legal framework for a law that would require the U.S. government to take a stand to honor and recognize General Mihailović with a statue. In 1976 and 1977, he tried to force the same in the Senate through politicians James Strom Thurmond and Barry Goldwater. However, the legal framework did not pass due to official United States policy towards Tito's Yugoslavia. Felman tried again throughout the 1980s and early 1990s multiple times in the following decades, but without success .

After the war, Richard Fellman was an active-duty officer who participated in the Korean War in the United States Air Force, from which he retired in 1968.

In 1995, on the fiftieth anniversary of the celebration of Victory in Europe Day, Major Richard Fellman returned to Serbia after 50 years, accompanied by his wife Mary Ann, Captain Nick Lalich, and Colonel Charlie Davis. They visited Ravna Gora together with 50,000 Serbs, who gave them a thunderous ovation.

Richard Felman died on 13 November 1999, at the age of 78, in Tucson, Arizona. He outlived his wife, Mary Ann, and his brother Irwin, and left no descendants.

See also

• Operation Halyard
• Draža Mihailović
• Chetniks
• Royal Yugoslav Army
• United States Army Air Forces
• Legion of Merit
• Purple Heart
• Victory in Europe Day

External links

• Richard Feldman on Serbian Wikipedia

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