Leyte Gulf (CG 55) - Naval Cruise Book

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Air Force C-130E Hercules cargo planes enroute to Sarajevo. YUGOSLAVIA ■ J „„ M.l , 1 Slo». f V. Subotica r— rv r Croalla l ,NoviSad . ■ ' fr Hetcflgovlna (Beograd) f I T .-,? L YUGOSLAVIA J Bulgaria p BLACK J SEA A llaly -x { r Mace. I V ' v- X C ' ' Vr l r- Cj IONIAN V ' Turk., j -- : I V (n y,,;.-....- .- 1 MEDITERRANEAN SEA U ' 40Okm .. 20 .„„, A Croatian member of the National Guard takes aim at Serbian snipers. PROVIDE PROMISE Yugoslavia has disintegrated, destroyed by rising nationalism, ethnic hostilities and separatism. The process has been anything but peaceful. Civil war has turned ancient cities and towns into rubble, killed as many as 15,000 people and created two million refugees. Yugoslavia was always an amalgam of diverse and sometimes antagonistic ethnic groups. Marshal Josip Tito, Yugoslavia ' s national hero and longtime Communist leader, kept the ethnically divided nation united with his blueprint for decentralized political decision making. But with the end of the Cold War, four of the six republics that made up Yugoslavia — Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, and Macedonia — declared independence. The remaining republics, Serbia and its weaker ally, Montenegro, have declared themselves a new Yugoslavia. Slobodan Milosevic, the charismatic Communist-nationalist leader of Serbia, has played the role of archvillain in the past year. His dreams of creating a Greater Serbia have fueled the bloodbath, as he pursues his goal of annexing parts of the other republics that have large concentrations of ethnic Serbs. Serbia has supplied, supported and created Serbian ethnic guerrillas in the other republics. One third of Croatia was in the hands of Serbian forces by the time a cease-fire was put in place in January 1992. In the spring of 1992 all-out war spread to Bosnia and Hercegovina, where the ancient capital of Sarajevo came under siege, trapping 300,000 people in the city. The onset of winter led to great hardship in Sarajevo and President Clinton made the decision to provide humanitarian relief via USAF cargo planes. LEYTE GULF was at hand to provide SAR TRAP assistance and track all relief flights while communicating their progress to the Specified Commander in London.

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V LA COMBATTANTE CLASS FAST PATROL BOAT TNS LA GALITE. CHAPLAIN JUMPER, MSCM SALAZAR, HN3 HIGHTOWER AND RM2 VERSACE DELIVER PROJECT HANDCLASP MATERIALS TO THE TUNISIANS. LEYTE GULF LEADS THE TNS LA GALITE AND TUNIS DURING THE SURFACE TO SURFACE GUNNERY EXERCISE.

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m LEYTE GULF in the Adriatic during operation Provide Promise.