SECRETARY-GENERAL PAYS TRIBUTE TO FIVE AMERICAN VICTIMS OF HELICOPTER CRASH IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

9 October 1997

Press Release
SG/SM/6353
PKO/63

SECRETARY-GENERAL PAYS TRIBUTE TO FIVE AMERICAN VICTIMS OF HELICOPTER CRASH IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

19971009 Address Delivered at Memorial Service in Washington, D.C., Also Remembers British, Polish, German Nationals Who Died in Accident

Following is the text of a statement by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, delivered on his behalf by Bernard Miyet, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, at the memorial service for the American victims of the 17 September helicopter crash in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Washington, D.C., 9 October):

We have gathered today on an occasion of terrible loss and great sadness. We have gathered to pay tribute to the five Americans who, in the service of the United Nations and in pursuit of America's ideals, paid the ultimate price for peace in Bosnia.

I would also like to remember today the Briton, the Pole and the five Germans who also lost their lives in that terrible accident. Together, these 12 brave and committed men and women from two continents and four countries represented the international community's dedication to Bosnia. Tragically, they also revealed the price we sometimes must pay to honour our world and our humanity.

Livio "Al" Boccaccio, David "Kris" Kriskovich, Leah Melnick, Bill Nesbitt and Marvin Padgett all served in Bosnia so that a devastated people in a distant land may one day live in peace. They went to Bosnia without a doubt in their minds, without a hesitancy in their hearts, for they knew that their service could, and did, make the difference between war and peace and between tolerance and persecution.

David Kriskovich joined the United Nations mission last March, and during his short service worked tirelessly as the Deputy Commissioner of the International Police Task Force to ensure democratic policing and a fair system of justice for all Bosnians.

His close and long-time friend, Livio Boccaccio, with over 20 years of police experience with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, offered his knowledge and expertise towards a just and fair future for Bosnia.

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Marvin Padgett served the United Nations mission first in the town of Livno, before going to Sarajevo as Deputy Chief of Local Police Development, ensuring that justice would reach the farthest corners of Bosnia.

Bill Nesbitt, with a long record of advising United Nations police missions from Haiti to Croatia and to Bosnia, was a valued partner of the United Nations International Police Task Force, bringing his vision and knowledge to the task of building a new police for Bosnia.

Finally today, we remember Leah Melnick, who, in her short life -- she was only 30 -- had served the United Nations with energy and brilliance for over five years in Cambodia and in Bosnia. May her dedication and commitment be a reminder to the youth of Bosnia of the sacrifices that others of their age are making to improve their lives.

All of us who have worked to secure peace in the former Yugoslavia know that our work is both difficult and dangerous. Yet, it is as rewarding as any peacemaking mission in the world.

Those we honour today served for the sake of the people of Bosnia and in the hope that coexistence, once flourishing among the communities of that country, can once again become reality. They showed in their work and in their lives that conflict in Bosnia is not inevitable, that the desire for peace and for tolerance is genuine, and that we in the international community have a duty and an obligation to make that peace possible. For the sake of those we mourn today, let us ensure that we do.

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