Reserve Citizen Airman Was A War Refugee
by U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Samantha Mathison
and Tech. Sgt. Rolf Stibbe August 18,
2020
On August 6, 1992, the United States established diplomatic
relations with Bosnia-Herzegovina following its independence from
the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. However, the country
was in the midst of conflict.
Tensions between Bosnia’s
Muslims, Croats and Serbs escalated into armed conflict early in
1992 as a result of the break-up of Yugoslavia, which began earlier
in 1990.
The United States can be a land of opportunity for
immigrants and refugees arriving from war-torn regions. As a result
of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995, an estimated
40,000 Bosnian refugees immigrated to St. Louis, Missouri, in the
1990s and early 2000s.
U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Muris Secerbegovic, 433rd
Maintenance Group quality assurance inspector in the 433rd Airlift
Wing at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas was one of them.
 U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Muris Secerbegovic, 433rd Maintenance Group quality assurance inspector, stands near a C-5M Super Galaxy
on July 22, 2020, at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. Secerbegovic joined the Air Force Reserve in 2013 to become a crew chief in the 433rd Airlift Wing. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Samantha Mathison)
|
Born in the city of Banja Luka,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Secerbegovic and his parents faced heightened
ethnic tensions in the early 1990s when the Socialist Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia disintegrated.
As an eight-year-old
child, Secerbegovic said he didn’t fully grasp the concept of the
events unfolding around him, but he remembers watching news footage
of tanks rolling in and military fighter jets in the skies.
According to Secerbegovic, his father, Mustaj, realized what was
happening and in 1991 decided to relocate his wife and child
temporarily to stay with friends in Croatia and ride out the civil
unrest there.
“I remember the ‘straw that broke the camel’s
back,’ so to speak, was when my father and I went to get gas,”
Secerbegovic said. “It was supposed to be a quick trip, but we
didn’t know fuel shipments had dwindled so much because of the
tension. There was only one gas-station selling fuel, and the line
was so long it took more than two hours. That was when my father
knew it was time to go.”
Mustaj stayed behind for
approximately eight months before joining his family in Croatia. The
plan was to go back home after things settled down in the region,
but unfortunately, that did not happen, Secerbegovic said.
As
the Croatians, Serbs and Bosnians began their open conflict during
the collapse of Yugoslavia, the Secerbegovic family found themselves
refugees of civil war. They decided to leave Croatia in 1992 and
journeyed to the border of Austria, where they were put in a refugee
camp.
 U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Muris Secerbegovic, 433rd Maintenance Group quality assurance inspector, as a child with his father, Mustaj, in Banja Luka, Bosnia-Herzigovina
in May 1983. Mustaj moved his family to Croatia, Austria and then the United States to avoid the civil war in his home country. (Courtesy photo
from Tech. Sgt. Muris Secerbegovic)
|
“We were only there for about a month,” Secerbegovic
said. “There was a farmer who came by and offered his mother’s house
to some refugees because the camp was getting too full. We were
lucky enough to be chosen to stay at that house.”
The
family’s new home was in a town 40 miles south of Vienna called
Leithaprodersdorf, Austria, where they lived for the next four
years.
While living in Austria, the family was offered the
opportunity to immigrate to St. Louis, Missouri, in the United
States. With the war still raging in their homeland, they decided to
start the process to become U.S. citizens, according to
Secerbegovic.
In 1996, the family began their journey to the
United States. Secerbegovic said he remembered looking out of the
window of the terminal at Frankfurt Airport, Germany, and seeing a
giant, red and white Trans World Airlines Boeing 747 and thinking
this was the largest jet he’d ever seen. He said this was when his
fascination with aviation began.
When the family arrived at
their destination, Secerbegovic said he couldn’t believe he was
finally in America.
“The U.S.A. was just huge,” he said.
“Everything was vast and grand. The highway system, with its bridges
and underpasses were impressive. The cars were huge, just like what
I had seen on Bosnian and Austrian broadcasts of American television
shows. Now I was sitting in one.”
After graduating High
School, Secerbegovic focused his dreams and ambitions on becoming an
aircraft mechanic. He attained his Federal Aviation Administration
Airframe and Powerplant License from Hallmark University in San
Antonio, then started his aviation career at L3 Technologies, Inc.,
in Waco, Texas.
Secerbegovic said that one day he was working
in a hangar with a canopy roof cover when he heard the sound of a
Lockheed C-5A Galaxy flying overhead and watched as the whole hangar
floor turned dark and then lit back up again.
“The aircraft’s
shadow blocked out the sun,” he said. “I walked out to the flight
line and watched the aircraft circling the airport, doing touch and
go landings. Throughout my whole life, I wanted to give something
back to the country, which had given me safety, freedom and endless
opportunity. When I saw the C-5, I thought, ‘This is it!’”
Secerbegovic joined the U.S. Air Force Reserve in 2013 as a crew
chief assigned to the 433rd AW, and a few years later, he decided to
quit the private sector and work in the wing full-time as an Air
Reserve Technician.
In his lifelong journey out of war and
into a C-5 aircraft, Secerbegovic said he’s learned it takes
discipline, motivation, and drive to achieve a dream, especially in
aviation as a member of the military.
“Work can be very
hectic,” he said. “As a flying crew chief, the flights can be long,
and trips are more frequent than ever. I am just blessed to have a
good, strong family to back me up, and without my superiors’ and
mentors’ encouragement, I would never have made it this far.”
In January 2020, Secerbegovic was accepted for an Active Guard
Reserve tour at the wing to perform quality inspector duties in
aircraft maintenance and is slated to return to his ART position as
crew chief after the tour ends.
433rd MXG QA Superintendent
and Secerbegovic’s supervisor, Senior Master Sgt. Brian Gray, said
due to his past experiences, Secerbegovic views life with a
different perspective than most assigned to the section.
“In
the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic, we find ourselves working
longer days with fewer people,” Gray said. “He doesn’t ever seem to
have a ‘bad’ day. Instead, he attacks any assignment or mission with
a confidence and positive attitude unrivaled by most. Secerbegovic’s
outlook on life is contagious, and without a doubt, it increases
morale.”
Our Valiant Troops |
Veterans |
Citizens Like Us
U.S. Air Force |
Air National Guard
|
U.S. Air Force Gifts |
U.S. Department
of Defense
|
|