Remembrance of 1999

March 24, 2026

TL;DR

The author was 28 years old when NATO began bombing Serbia on March 24, 1999.
She initially disbelieved the possibility of an attack in the heart of Europe.
Air raid sirens forced people into shelters, and the author spent nights in shelters during the 72-day bombing campaign.
Her grandfather suffered a fatal stroke during the bombing and died two weeks later.
Travel for the funeral was difficult due to lack of transportation and fuel, involving multiple bus changes and hitchhiking.
During the journey, she witnessed the bombing of Niš and saw cluster bombs fall on her neighborhood.
She encountered soldiers heading to Kosovo, whose faces remain vivid in her memory.
A fragment of a cluster bomb was found embedded in her apartment wall, symbolizing the lasting impact of the bombing.

Continue reading the original article