George Musulin, 72, helped rescue WW II fliers downed in Yugoslavia:- Friday, February 27, 1987
ARLINGTON, Va. - George S. ''Gov'' Musulin, who led the daring and successful airlift of downed fliers from Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia during World War II, has died at age 72.
Mr. Musulin, who received the Legion of Merit for his actions as a first lieutenant, died Monday in Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. He was buried Wednesday in Arlington National Cemetery.
Mr. Musulin lead a three-man team from the Office of Strategic Services, forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency, parachuting into German-occupied Yugoslavia on Aug. 2, 1944.
With the help of Serb resistance fighter Gen. Draja Mikhailovich, the team directed peasants in leveling an emergency airstrip that 16 C-47 troop planes used to carry 240 airmen out of enemy territory, according to an Oct. 1, 1945, OSS dispatch.
The dispatch was reported in the Oct. 3, 1945, edition of American Srbobran, the newspaper of the Pittsburgh-based Serb National Federation.
Born in Staten Island, N.Y., Mr. Musulin graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1939 and played football there and professionally for the Pittsburgh Steelers, St. Louis Gunners and Boston Shamrocks.
He retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel and for the last several years lived in McLean, Va.
Retired Air Force Maj. Richard L. Felman of Tuscon, Ariz., one of the fliers the OSS rescued, appealed to President Reagan in a Feb. 4 letter to telephone to Mr. Musulin, then a double amputee and gravely ill in the hospital.
''We who are alive today because of Gov Musulin's courage would be deeply grateful to you for this compassionate gesture. He was there when we and our country needed him. We can do no less for him now,'' Felman wrote.
White House officials said Wednesday that Reagan apparently did not place the call.
Felman is also president of the National Committee of American Airmen Rescued by Gen. Mikhailovich Inc., which has been lobbying Congress to authorize a monument to the Serb freedom fighter.
ARLINGTON, Va. - George S. ''Gov'' Musulin, who led the daring and successful airlift of downed fliers from Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia during World War II, has died at age 72.
Mr. Musulin, who received the Legion of Merit for his actions as a first lieutenant, died Monday in Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. He was buried Wednesday in Arlington National Cemetery.
Mr. Musulin lead a three-man team from the Office of Strategic Services, forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency, parachuting into German-occupied Yugoslavia on Aug. 2, 1944.
With the help of Serb resistance fighter Gen. Draja Mikhailovich, the team directed peasants in leveling an emergency airstrip that 16 C-47 troop planes used to carry 240 airmen out of enemy territory, according to an Oct. 1, 1945, OSS dispatch.
The dispatch was reported in the Oct. 3, 1945, edition of American Srbobran, the newspaper of the Pittsburgh-based Serb National Federation.
Born in Staten Island, N.Y., Mr. Musulin graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1939 and played football there and professionally for the Pittsburgh Steelers, St. Louis Gunners and Boston Shamrocks.
He retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel and for the last several years lived in McLean, Va.
Retired Air Force Maj. Richard L. Felman of Tuscon, Ariz., one of the fliers the OSS rescued, appealed to President Reagan in a Feb. 4 letter to telephone to Mr. Musulin, then a double amputee and gravely ill in the hospital.
''We who are alive today because of Gov Musulin's courage would be deeply grateful to you for this compassionate gesture. He was there when we and our country needed him. We can do no less for him now,'' Felman wrote.
White House officials said Wednesday that Reagan apparently did not place the call.
Felman is also president of the National Committee of American Airmen Rescued by Gen. Mikhailovich Inc., which has been lobbying Congress to authorize a monument to the Serb freedom fighter.
George Musulin, 72, helped rescue WW II fliers downed in Yugoslavia:- Friday, February 27, 1987
ARLINGTON, Va. - George S. ''Gov'' Musulin, who led the daring and successful airlift of downed fliers from Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia during World War II, has died at age 72.
Mr. Musulin, who received the Legion of Merit for his actions as a first lieutenant, died Monday in Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. He was buried Wednesday in Arlington National Cemetery.
Mr. Musulin lead a three-man team from the Office of Strategic Services, forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency, parachuting into German-occupied Yugoslavia on Aug. 2, 1944.
With the help of Serb resistance fighter Gen. Draja Mikhailovich, the team directed peasants in leveling an emergency airstrip that 16 C-47 troop planes used to carry 240 airmen out of enemy territory, according to an Oct. 1, 1945, OSS dispatch.
The dispatch was reported in the Oct. 3, 1945, edition of American Srbobran, the newspaper of the Pittsburgh-based Serb National Federation.
Born in Staten Island, N.Y., Mr. Musulin graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1939 and played football there and professionally for the Pittsburgh Steelers, St. Louis Gunners and Boston Shamrocks.
He retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel and for the last several years lived in McLean, Va.
Retired Air Force Maj. Richard L. Felman of Tuscon, Ariz., one of the fliers the OSS rescued, appealed to President Reagan in a Feb. 4 letter to telephone to Mr. Musulin, then a double amputee and gravely ill in the hospital.
''We who are alive today because of Gov Musulin's courage would be deeply grateful to you for this compassionate gesture. He was there when we and our country needed him. We can do no less for him now,'' Felman wrote.
White House officials said Wednesday that Reagan apparently did not place the call.
Felman is also president of the National Committee of American Airmen Rescued by Gen. Mikhailovich Inc., which has been lobbying Congress to authorize a monument to the Serb freedom fighter.
ARLINGTON, Va. - George S. ''Gov'' Musulin, who led the daring and successful airlift of downed fliers from Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia during World War II, has died at age 72.
Mr. Musulin, who received the Legion of Merit for his actions as a first lieutenant, died Monday in Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. He was buried Wednesday in Arlington National Cemetery.
Mr. Musulin lead a three-man team from the Office of Strategic Services, forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency, parachuting into German-occupied Yugoslavia on Aug. 2, 1944.
With the help of Serb resistance fighter Gen. Draja Mikhailovich, the team directed peasants in leveling an emergency airstrip that 16 C-47 troop planes used to carry 240 airmen out of enemy territory, according to an Oct. 1, 1945, OSS dispatch.
The dispatch was reported in the Oct. 3, 1945, edition of American Srbobran, the newspaper of the Pittsburgh-based Serb National Federation.
Born in Staten Island, N.Y., Mr. Musulin graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1939 and played football there and professionally for the Pittsburgh Steelers, St. Louis Gunners and Boston Shamrocks.
He retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel and for the last several years lived in McLean, Va.
Retired Air Force Maj. Richard L. Felman of Tuscon, Ariz., one of the fliers the OSS rescued, appealed to President Reagan in a Feb. 4 letter to telephone to Mr. Musulin, then a double amputee and gravely ill in the hospital.
''We who are alive today because of Gov Musulin's courage would be deeply grateful to you for this compassionate gesture. He was there when we and our country needed him. We can do no less for him now,'' Felman wrote.
White House officials said Wednesday that Reagan apparently did not place the call.
Felman is also president of the National Committee of American Airmen Rescued by Gen. Mikhailovich Inc., which has been lobbying Congress to authorize a monument to the Serb freedom fighter.
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