Rudolf Perešin

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Rudolf Perešin
Brigadier General posthumously)
Unit21st Fighter Squadron
Battles/warsCroatian War of Independence
Awards

Rudolf Perešin[

Serb Krajina
military forces, resulting in his death.

Biography

Perešin was born in the village of Jakšinec near Gornja Stubica, north of the Croatian capital Zagreb. He enrolled at the Yugoslav Military Pilot Academy in Zadar, and graduated in 1981 at the top of his class as one of the best fighter pilots of the Yugoslav Air Force.

In 1991, during the early stages of the war, Perešin decided to defect in order to help defend his homeland. Like all Croatian-born personnel, he was under close surveillance by his commanding officers. On 25 October 1991 Perešin flew his MiG-21R from the Željava Air Base and landed in Klagenfurt, Austria.[2] His defection as well as his statement that he is a "Croat and I cannot and will not fire upon my Croatia" proved to be a significant moral boost for the Croatian forces.

Rudolf Perešin memorial in Gornja Stubica

On 2 May 1995, while providing

Mirogoj cemetery in Zagreb.[1][3]

Today, the Croatian Air Force Flying School in Zadar and the Aeronautical Technical High School in Velika Gorica are both named in his honor.

The

Heeresgeschichtliches Museum (military history museum) in Vienna and briefly shown to the public there.[2] It was publicly displayed at Zeltweg Air Base during the AirPower11 national air show in 2011.[2] After a protracted international ownership dispute, with competing claims from Croatia and Serbia,[2][4][5] the aircraft was handed over to Croatia in 2019.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Obilježena 17. obljetnica pogibije stožernog brigadira Rudolfa Perešina". morh.hr (in Croatian). Croatian Ministry of Defense. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d "Austrijanci se hvale avionom Rudolfa Perešina". tportal.hr (in Croatian). Hrvatski Telekom. 2 July 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  3. ^ (in Croatian) Gradska groblja Zagreb: Rudolf Perešin, Mirogoj RKT-111D-I-45
  4. ^ "Legendarni avion Rudolfa Perešina Austrija ne želi vratiti". tportal.hr (in Croatian). Hrvatski Telekom. 19 January 2009. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  5. ^ "Telegram doznaje: legendarni MiG-21 Rudolfa Perešina vraća se u Hrvatsku". telegram.hr (in Croatian). 21 April 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  6. ^ "Rudolf Perešin's MiG arrives in Croatia". glashrvatske.hrt.hr. Archived from the original on 7 May 2019.

External links