Tko su Heroji Vukovara?

Proljeće u Vukovaru te povijesne 1991. godine tek nekim neobjašnjivim osjećajem tjeskobe činilo se drukčije od prethodnih. I dok je poneki stariji čovjek znao onako, više za sebe, promrmljati "bit će rata", ljudi u tom gradu radili su uobičajene poslove. Maturanti su spremali završne ispite, seljaci sijali kukuruz, obućarski radnici napravili prvu seriju novog modela cipela za izvoz u Njemačku... Ni najmaštovitiji od njih nije mogao zamisliti životni scenarij kakav će ga zadesiti samo nekoliko mjeseci kasnije.
 
Onaj neobjašnjivi osjećaj tjeskobe ubrzo se pretvorio se u šok, zaprepaštenje i nevjericu. 02.05.91. u Borovu selu ubijeno je 12 hrvatskih policajaca. U istom tom selu istoga dana viđeni su četnici. Oni prljavi, ružni, bradati četnici, mlađim generacijama poznati tek iz udžbenika povijesti.
 
Od toga dana u Vukovaru i okolnim hrvatskim selima počele su se zaključavati kapije, Dnevnik se gledao više nego ikad a na ulicama je jenjavao žamor života. Sirena za znak opće opasnosti sve češće se čula, izmjenjujući se sa zvucima oružja. Prve granate otjerale su ljude u podrume i skloništa koji su uskoro postali njihov novi dom. Neki su počeli i napuštati grad…
 
Oni najhrabriji odlučili su ostati u svom gradu i nadolazeći rat ne prepustiti slučaju. Želja za slobodnim gradom i slobodnom novom državom bila je jača od svakodnevnih prijetećih puškaranja sa svih strana i nadlijetanja aviona JNA koji su snimali lokacije u gradu kako bi ih nedugo kasnije pogađali sa 100% sigurnošću.
 
Manje skupine ljudi organiziraju obranu, ubrzo im se priključuju dragovoljci iz ostalih dijelova Hrvatske pa i svijeta. Maturanti, seljaci i obućari postali su ratnici. Nekoliko mjeseci kasnije postali su HEROJI VUKOVARA.
 
U ovoj seriji glavni likovi su oni - preživjeli vukovarski branitelji. 15-ak godina poslije na autentičnim lokacijama prisjećaju se i svjedoče o 1991.g.
 
Snimanje serije je započeto u listopadu 2005. a traje i danas.

Who are Heroes of Vukovar?   

Only strange feeling of anxiety has made that spring 1991 in Vukovar different from others. Some older men used to whisper for themselves, "the war will come", but other people were working on their usual jobs.  Teachers had been preparing final exams, peasants had been seeding corn, shoe makers made first serial of new shoes for export in Germany...Not even most imaginative people could see what will happen only few months later.

That unexplainable feeling of anxiety quickly transformed into state of shock, consternation and discredit.02. 05. 1991. in Borovo Selo, 12 Croatian policemen had been killed. In the same village, same day, chetniks had been seen. Same dirty, ugly, bearded chetniks which younger generations know only from history books.

From that day, in Vukovar and in Croatian villages, people were beginning to lock the gates. News on TV was the most watched program, and streets were becoming more and more silent. You could hear sirens for general danger and firing from weapons very often. First grenades pushed the people in cellars and shelters which became their new home. Some of them started to leave the city...

The bravest among them decided to stay in town and don't let the war to go in wrong direction. Wish for a free city and a free state was stronger than the fear from everyday firing from all sides and military airplanes that were sent to record locations in town, so they can easily hit targets after that.

Little groups of people had been organizing the defense, and soon volunteers from other parts of Croatia and other countries have joined. Graduates, peasants and shoemakers became warriors. Few months later, they became HEROES OF VUKOVAR.

In this serial, the main characters are they - defenders of Vukovarthat managed to survive. 15 years after, they remember and testify about glorious moment in year 1991.

The shooting of serial started in October 2005 and has been continuing until today.

Author: Zvezdana Polovina

Trpinjsku cestu branili su ljudi raznih profila. Bilo je  poljoprivrednika, muzičara, srednjoškolaca, avanturista. Ti ljudi u ratu tvorili su dva najelitnija odreda branitelja Vukovara - Žute mrave i Pustinjske štakore. Ovi odredi slani su na zadatke u koje se gotovo nitko drugi nije usudio ići. Išli su u akcije dok se većina drugih nije usuđivala izaći iz podruma. Žuti mravi i Pustinjski štakori zajedno sa Turbo vodom zalužni su za veliki broj mrtvih neprijateljskih vojnika na vukovarskom bojištu, a slijedom toga i za dugotrajnost otpora hrvatskih branitelja Vukovara. O njima se do danas gotovo ništa ne zna.

3. Yellow Ants and Desert Rats -  Friday 19.09.2008 20.10, on Craotian Television

Trpinjska road was defended by people of different profiles. There were farmers, musicians, teachers from high school, adventurers. These people formed two elite squads of Croatian defenders of Vukovar - Yellow Ants and Desert Rats. During the war, they were sent on most difficult tasks. Nobody else had enough courage for that. They were in action while others had barely enough courage to come out from the cellar. Yellow Ants and Desert Rats together with Turbo platoon probably destroyed the largest number of enemy soldiers on Vukovar's front and that was one of the reasons resistance of Croatian defenders in Vukovar was so long. Today we know  almost nothing about them.

This episode talks about them and their battles against Serbian aggressors. Unfortunately, this episode talks mainly about dead defenders, because most of characters from this episode didn't survive the occupation of Vukovar. Iva Leutar and Marko Babic talk about their co fighters in this episode.