Milenko Pavlović - the last Serbian pilot to die in 1999

Milenko Pavlović was born on 5 October 1959 in the village of Gornje Crniljevo, in the municipality of Osečina near Valjevo. After completing military secondary school in Mostar, he graduated from the Aviation Academy in Zadar.

Military career

Pavlović was a pilot of the Yugoslav Army and commander of the famous 204th Fighter Aviation Regiment. He was one of the most experienced MiG-29 pilots in the Yugoslav military aviation.

"You young men will not die, I will!"

On 4 May 1999, NATO aviation had just bombed Valjevo - the native region of Colonel Pavlović. When the order to take off arrived, a younger pilot was preparing to enter the cockpit of the MiG-29.

Pavlović pulled him out of the cockpit with words that became legend: "Get down, damn it! You young men will not die, I will!"

The last flight - 4 May 1999

Colonel Pavlović took off alone from the airport in Batajnica. Immediately after takeoff, the alternating-current generator failed, leaving him practically "blind" - the radar was not working. Before him was a formation of 16 NATO F-16 fighters.

Despite the technical problems and the enemy's enormous numerical superiority, Pavlović engaged in combat. He remained in the air for a full 12 minutes, fighting above his native town. He was hit by three NATO AIM-120 missiles.

His last words on the radio were simple: "They've got me..."

He did not eject. The remains of his aircraft fell in the village of Petnica in the vicinity of Valjevo. The whole of Valjevo watched his final battle.

Legacy

Milenko Pavlović was the last casualty in the Serbian skies during the NATO aggression. After his death, until the end of the bombing on 10 June 1999, Yugoslav aviation did not carry out a single further combat flight.

He was posthumously decorated with the Medal for Bravery. The Serbian Orthodox Church decorated his family with the Order of Saint Bishop Nikolaj. In his native village of Gornje Crniljevo a memorial complex was erected, and monuments were also erected in Valjevo and Bujačić.

Streets in Novi Sad, Valjevo, Batajnica, Osečina and Gornje Crniljevo bear his name. The airbase in Batajnica, from which he took off on his last flight, also bears his name.

He left behind his wife Slavica and his sons Srđan and Nemanja. Srđan today has children, Vojin and Maša - grandchildren whom Milenko never met.