(6 Feb 1996) Serbo-Croat/English
All Hasema Skenderovic needed was three US Army M-1A Abrams tanks and a platoon of US soldiers to fulfill her four-year dream: to see her long-lost brother, Mehmed Ahic , once again.
When the war in Bosnia broke out, Hasema and Mehmed were separated by frontline trenches and they haven't seen each other since.
But the Dayton accord and the arrival of NATO troops in their home town Gradacac has enabled them to reunite at a U-S checkpoint.
Bosnian Muslim relatives and friends were waiting to be reunited with their long lost relatives at the U-S manned checkpoint only a few kilometers away from the town of Gradacac, north of Tuzla.
Hasema,44, along with other family members, was among the people who arrived for the long-awaited reunion with her brother Mehmed.
SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat)
"What can I say? I missed him. It was very difficult without him. I was looking forward to this moment, and I will be very happy to see him"
SUPER CAPTION: Hasema Skenderovic, sister
But the reunion was brief : it lasted for just twenty minutes.
Nevertheless, relatives were delighted to be able to embrace their loved ones, even for a short moment.
Hasema and Mehmed threw themselves into each other arms and burst into tears when the moment finally arrived.
Mehmed Ahic was living in Modrica when the war started.
He has not seen his sister for four long years for fear of crossing the front lines between the Serbs and the Muslims.
During the short reunion they tried to catch up with the time they have lost.
The U-S soldiers of 11 Cavalry based in Germany made this reunion possible.
They feel their mission is worthwhile even if it only brought families together for a short visit.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"A lot of these families have been separated three or four years. We are in an area where there is a lot of mixed families -- there has been a lot of separation. This seems to be the point where they all come together right here in front of us. Every day we witness 4 or 5 family reunions"
SUPER CAPTION: Patrick Hunt, U-S soldier based in Buedingen, Germany
U-S soldiers at the checkpoint say scores of civilians come every day to get a glimpse of their loved ones living on the other side of the lines.
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