U.S. President Harry S. Truman Awards Draza Mihailovich Legion of Merit

In 1948, U.S. President Harry S. Truman awarded the leader of the Chetniks General Draza Mihailovich the Legion of Merit (LOM), a military award of the United States Armed Forces that acknowledges exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. This award was issued two years after a Communist political show trial court tried, convicted, and executed Draza Mihailovich in Josip Broz Tito Yugoslavia. By this award, Truman implicitly rejected that verdict and "judicial murder".

Harry Truman's award was issued based on the recommendation of General and later U. S President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The award read as follows:

"Chief Commander

General Dragoljub Mihailovich distinguished himself in an outstanding manner as Commander-in-Chief of the Yugoslavian Army Forces and later as Minister of War by organizing and leading important resistance forces against the enemy which occupied Yugoslavia, from December 1941 to December 1944. Through the undaunted efforts of his troops, many United States airmen were rescued and returned safely to friendly control. General Mihailovich and his forces, although lacking adequate supplies, and fighting under extreme hardships, contributed materially to the allied cause, and were instrumental in obtaining a final Allied Victory.

March 29, 1948

HARRY S. TRUMAN."

The award was kept a secret because the U.S. became an "ally" of Josip Broz Tito's Communist Yugoslavia after his break with the Soviet Union in 1948 during the Cold War.

This award is vital because it shows how two U.S. Presidents acknowledged that Draza Mihailovich and the Chetnik guerrillas depicted in the 1943 20th Century Fox film Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas "were instrumental in obtaining a final Allied victory."