Dražen Živić, PhD, at the ceremonial presentation of the monograph 5th Guards Brigade of the Croatian Army Sokolovi; Đakovo, 23/03/2026
Organized by the Club of War Commanders and Senior Officers of the Veterans Association of the 5th Guards Brigade “Sokolovi”, another in a series of presentations of the monograph 5th Guards Brigade of the Croatian Army Sokolovi was held at the Catholic Theological Faculty in Đakovo on 26 March 2026
Among the numerous family members of the killed, deceased and seriously wounded members of the Brigade, as well as other invited guests, the presentation was attended by the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Croatia, Mr. Ivan Anušić, and the County Prefect of Osijek-Baranja County, Ms. Nataša Tramišak, who addressed the gathering with welcoming remarks.
The monograph was presented on behalf of the Expert Team by its leader and editor-in-chief, Brigadier Mijo Kožić, and an external associate of the Expert Team and author of two chapters in the book, Dražen Živić, PhD, from the Pilar Institute Regional Center in Vukovar. Brigadier Kožić highlighted the chronology of the publication’s creation through a three-year project, as well as its structure, while Dražen Živić, PhD, pointed out its importance through three scientific dimensions. The first dimension refers to the structured, detailed, documented and described establishment, organization and war path of the Brigade, through which more than 6 thousand members passed, 89 of whom were killed and several hundred wounded. The second dimension refers to the contribution of the monograph to an even more comprehensive understanding of the Homeland War as a whole, both in the Republic of Croatia and in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina. The third dimension, however, refers to its importance in the context of the development of a “culture of remembrance” as opposed to a “culture of forgetting” in which attempts at malicious falsification, distortion and manipulation of the truth about the creation and defense of a modern and sovereign Croatian state and its territorial integrity are not uncommon.
At the end of the presentation, the Brigade’s wartime commander, retired Major General Ivan Kapular, and Brigadier Mijo Kožić, appropriately awarded copies of the monograph to the families of the killed and deceased members, as well as to the seriously wounded members of the Brigade, as well as to representatives of the most important institutions of the City of Đakovo.
