22.12.2011.
Visiting the construction site of the new gym in Pranjani
U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Mary Warlick and State Secretary at the Ministry of Defence Igor Jovicic visited the elementary school "Ivo Andric" in Pranjani marking the beginning of the reconstruction of the gym funded by the U.S. government which donated 700,000 USD. The construction site visit was attended by the Mayor of Gornji Milanovac Milisav Mirkovic and director of Pranjani elementary school Gorica Stanojevic.-
In August 1944, the villagers of Pranjani played a vital role in saving US AF pilots in Halyard mission when they rescued more than 520 airmen of the Allies. Today, we are not here only to honor the courage of people of this area, but trying to turn our past experiences into friendship and even stronger partnership for the future – as US Ambassador to Serbia Mary Warlick said, adding that this project was the culmination of co-operation that has lasted for several years now and which resulted in the renovation and equipping a renovated health station "John Kingsbury" in Pranjani which is now the largest medical center in the rural areas of Serbia.Donation of U.S. Department of Defense EUCOM in the amount of $ 700,000 will be used to complete the construction of the gym and make an annex that would connect two existing school buildings.
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A year ago we agreed to work together with the American Embassy to provide funding to complete the school halls in Pranjani. We see that works are progressing and we expect them to be completed late next year. As for the gym the cost of which exceeds 100 million, will serve students and the young people of the area and shall contribute to the prosperity of the whole region - said Milisav Mirkovic.Mission "Halyard" is the largest rescue operation executed behind enemy lines during World War II. Not far from the place of the site of "Ivo Andric" school, the villagers and allied aviators built an airstrip that enabled USAF planes to land and evacuate the pilots. The locals hid airmen, and then helped them to get to a safe zone.
