On March 31, 1999, one week after NATO began bombing Kosovo, three soldiers from the 4th Army Division were captured while patrolling the border between Serbia and Macedonia. Their humvee had become separated from their division, and they took fire from Yugoslav forces. They were tried as spies in Pristina, Kosovo. The three were held prisoner of war for thirty-six days before being released to an Inter-Faith humanitarian delegation, which included Rev. Jesse Jackson, each having sustained various injuries.
But what if one of those soldiers had been killed in Pristina. And what if those soldiers had not been Army Infantry, but Army Rangers.
This is that story.
All facts presented are as close to historically accurate as possible, apart from the two changes outlined above, and allowing for some imagination to fill in the gaps. If you have any questions about what is historical and what is my imagination, please email me. Specific information on fact vs. fiction will also be posted in the epilogue.
Please note that this story contains graphic violence, coarse language, and an excessive amount of angst. If you are easily upset or offended, please do not read. There is, however, a very happy ending.
It is a R/S pairing, not particularly Joe friendly, and is set post-LMT but only tiny spoilers. I own none of the characters, and make no profit.
Two points of clarification:
All translations are into Serbo-Croatian. Some of the speakers would have spoken a specific dialect of Albanian rather than Serbo-Croatian, but I don't have the ability to translate that. Please forgive the liberty, and if anyone speaks Kosovar Albanian, let me know.
Second, the trial in question for this story is prosecuting President Milutinovic, who was the President of Serbia, and is currently on trial in front of the ICTY. Slobodan Milosevic, the President of Yugoslavia, died before the end of his trial. The names are similar enough to cause confusion, but I wanted to use real names as much as possible. Additionally, all names used in the flashbacks are accurate, I simply removed surnames to preserve some anonymity.