After Four and a Half Years, I Was Home
Bogosave Ćirković, I tell myself, save every dinar, just in case. You brought 32 dinars from home, that can last you a long time. Vucitrn was the assembly point: there we received rifles and training began. But only a few days, and then we moved on: Pristina, Prizren... We just kept going. No one said where, no one dared to ask; we, the recruits, had no idea. And so it went to the Drim. On the bridge, a long column of soldiers. The artillerymen unhitch the horses and push the cannons into the river. God, what am I seeing, what is happening, are we burying the state...
TL;DR
- The author, a recruit, describes his initial confusion and hardship upon being called to military service.
- He faced severe hunger, trading possessions for food and witnessing soldiers dying along the way.
- The journey involved crossing rivers, enduring harsh weather, and traveling by ship to various locations, including Corfu and Vido.
- Vido, referred to as the "Blue Tomb," was a place of mass death, where bodies were thrown into the sea.
- After recovery in Bizerta and Thessaloniki, he was sent to the front lines and injured.
- He remained in the army until February 10, 1920, and finally returned to his home in Čačak after four and a half years.