The reserve military elders of Nikšić, military pensioners and invalids joined forces, the Municipality lent them a hand, and this summer they opened the "Bridges of Friendship" memorial room, as the meetings of the reserve military elders of Nikšić, Plužine, Vrbas, Subotica, Bečej, Banja Luka and Prijedora, which last 29 years.
The Room is also a story about the creation and disappearance of an army, but also of a country, about the "untainted" officer's honor, about the broken bridges that were rebuilt in harmony, about the borders that could not prevent friends from reaching out to each other.
"Everyone knew the glorious past of the army of Montenegro and the army of Yugoslavia, and all that is good should not be forgotten. It was our moral obligation to remind of the good days when we were friends, when Yugoslavia was in its entirety and when we looked at each other as brothers. We decided together to turn the warehouse space into a memorial room, and we have quite a few exhibits. The idea was previously advocated, but now we have realized it thanks to the Municipality of Nikšić and Marko Kovačević who helped us", says the president of the Nikšić reserve military elders Branislav-Branko Pavić.
In the room, photos that keep the memory of a time, but also people who built and are building bridges of friendship, charters, recognitions, numerous exhibits from the period of recent military history.
"There are all the chiefs of the General Staff until the year 2000, this is it Peko Dapcevic, Danilo Jauković, and this is Dusan Perunović, one of the most moral politicians of that era. There are also significant historical figures from Nikšić and Piva. There are forgotten generals, presidents of municipalities, youth. These are the uniforms of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), trophies from various competitions, archive of meetings of reserve military officers, emblems of meetings, song Voj Mijušković which he wrote for the organization, three monographs...", Pavić proudly shows.
“This is a scarf, a ceremonial belt, and this is my honorary saber. On one side it says - don't take it out without reason, and on the other - don't return it without honor. The saber is a symbol of dignity, honor, and solemnity. These are three important military papers - 'Front', 'People's Army' and 'Army'. There are also gaiters, a lantern, a flask, a soldier's ration, an elder's harness, a protective mask, officer's purses 40 and more than 60 years old, a bayonet for an M48 rifle. We will slowly add to this and refine it further. There will also be a ceremonial military suit, work and war uniform, helmets, binoculars...", continues Dobrislav Bajović, retired colonel and president of the municipal organization of military pensioners.
Their intention, explains Bajović, is for the room to grow into a military-historical museum.
"We want this to be a military-historical museum, to display as many exhibits as possible, for citizens to come and look at it all, so that we don't forget history, because we tend to have poor memories. If we set it up and don't show it, then there's no point. We closed ourselves in republican atars, and even municipal ones, so, as we started, we will go to atars of local communities. A cobweb is a feature of being cocooned in the mental sense. We are only interested in ourselves and no one else. It also destroyed our wonderful country", says Bajović and adds that he is a big nostalgic for the South.
I Slavko Krivokapic, the president of the Nikšić Association of Military Invalids, hopes that the memorial room will turn into a museum.
"I had this idea before, I wrote to various ministers, because it is really terrible that Montenegro does not have a military museum, and it has such a rich history. Now our three organizations have joined together and here it is - this was a warehouse a year ago, and now it is a nice memorial room. The important thing is the idea, the beginning. I hope that this room will grow into a military museum of Nikšić, that we will bring students here, introduce them to history, the JNA, a past that we must not forget," says Krivokapić.
The path of love and friendship
The Organization of Reserve Military Elders was created on September 15, 1919, on the anniversary of the breakthrough of the Thessaloniki Front, and the first lifetime president was Vojvoda Stepa Stepanović. It was originally called the Association of Reserve Officers and Warriors and changed its name seven times throughout its existence. She shared the fate of Yugoslav society, in peace and in war.
The first meetings of reserve military officers were organized on Sutjeska in 1971, and since then, the republics and autonomous provinces have taken turns hosting the meeting every year. The last ones in the former Yugoslavia, the twentieth, were held in Nikšić in 1991.
"Bridges of Friendship" started with the signing of the twinning charter with Vrbas, where the first meetings were held at the end of September 1995 - there were six of them in the community of Serbia and Montenegro, and they continued even after the end of the community, so that next year they celebrate three decades of existence.
"The hosts of the jubilee 30th matches will be Vrbas, Bečej and Subotica. We cherish what is sacred - companionship, brotherhood, love. In these 30 years, we have not had a single problem on any basis without finding a common solution. Isn't that wealth? It was only difficult for us when the bridges were destroyed. But pontoons were built and we didn't mind crossing those pontoons, because nothing could break our bridges of friendship. I hope, when this dust falls and this dirt disappears, when we bury this envy and malice, that the love that once existed in Yugoslavia will come back and that these bridges of friendship will spread to the other former republics. It will take a while, but I'm sure it will happen. We have no other way. We are still one," says Pavić.
He shows three awards of which he is particularly proud - two received by the organization of reserve military elders of Nikšić and one of his own.
"We received a gold plaque as the best organization in Yugoslavia and the Nikšić Liberation Award in 18. September'. And this is my personal favorite recognition. It was the last year when Serbia and Montenegro were together - then we received two awards per republic, one personal and one social. The first one was given to the Army House in Podgorica, and the second to me. It was on September 19, 2002. At that time, there were 16.500 officers and non-commissioned officers in Montenegro," Pavić proudly shows the aforementioned recognition.
In the beginning, the meetings of reserve military elders had a military-competitive character, but over time the program moved to the field of culture, visits, socializing, entertainment, songs and dances.
"A bridge is what connects two similar souls, two joys, two loves. That's why the 'Bridges of Friendship' were born," concluded Pavić.
Bonus video:
