Ministry of defence Republic of Serbia
 
07.09.2015.

The heroic feat of Corporal Bozo Plavsic



Early morning hours, around five, 23rd of May. On duty, as always, in the still sleepy small town of Draginac at the pontoon bridge over the Jadar. Corporal Bozo Plavsic, assistant on-call for camp premises, an experienced person serving the pontoon bridge in the group for maintaining of the composition from the 1st Pontoon Battalion at the Sabac barracks "Cer heroes" is awake. He is keeping an eye on the sparse early-morning traffic, occasionally visiting the pontoons, checking cables and connections. With the concrete military pontoon bridge severely damaged by floods, he daily provides normal life for thousands of residents from the area, and a slightest oversight is not an option.

Podvig- As if I had had a premonition. Reviewing the bridge, I turned to the nearby group of five or six houses, about a hundred meters away and saw how, from that direction, a dense cloud of smoke rose – Corporal Bozo Plavsic tells us. I immediately woke Lieutenant Stefan Djordjevic, commander of the pontoon crossing point, and reported to him about the observed, took a protective mask and gloves and ran to the direction of the smoke. In the courtyard of the storey house there was a woman, Milena, in tears, visibly stressed, crying out. Is there anybody in the house, I asked. The fire is upstairs, my husband is there, trying to extinguish the fire, she managed to utter!

I ran into the house with a protective mask over my head and ran through the thick and hot smoke up the stairs leading to the first floor. It took me a few moments to spot the man, sixty-four-year-old Misa, already weak from the smoke and heat. I took him and slowly descended the stairs to the courtyard. I returned to the house, upstairs. I closed the door to the room affected by the fire in order to briefly prevent the fire from spreading to the other rooms in the house. On my way down I managed to find the switchboard supply and turn off the main switch. All this lasted about ten minutes, maybe less, but it seemed like an eternity. Soon the firefighters from Loznica appeared. I informed them on the situation, after which they started extinguishing the fire. I took one of the fire hoses and joined the firefighters in the extinguishing of the fire from the elevated fire ladders.

That is it. There was nothing special. I was not thinking about my family, my wife Vesna and daughter Nina, or about yourself in those moments. Whether and how dangerous it was. Simply, there was no time for that. After all, I am a soldier. It was important to act as soon as possible, to save a life and the hard-earned property of people - Corporal Plavsic told us.

According to the eyewitnesses to the event, the accident had been without consequences for human health and life and substantial material damage, primarily owing to the Corporal of the Serbian Armed Forces.

Although reluctant to talk about it, he received congratulations from firefighters, fellow officers, superior staff, and boundless thanks from Milena and Miso Avramovic.

Recently, Corporal Bozo ended up with a military unit on the same task in Draginac. Having heard of this, Milena and Misa did not miss the opportunity to invite him to their home. The newly founded friendship and conversation seemed to have no end. Had it not been for our Bozo, who knows what would have happened that fatal morning and how it all would have ended, said the Avramovic family.

- I'm happy that I saved a life. Well, that is, without a doubt, what every member of our Armed Forces would do! - Corporal Bozo Plavsic said humbly.