My guest today is Dejan Mujkanovic. He is an Australian Army officer with 19 years of military experience. He has completed several tours of Afghanistan and also deployed to East Timor. He was born in Bosnia in 1980 and experienced the full brunt of the civil war in the 90’s. His hometown of Prijedor made global news due to the campaign of ethnic cleansing committed by the Bosnian Serb forces seeking to forcefully remove the Bosnian Muslim and Bosnian Croat populations from the area. As a result of these crimes, many of Dejan’s extended family members were lost in concentration camps, which, sadly, includes his father Senad Mujkanovic who was killed in the Omarska concentration camp in 1992. In the ensuing chaos, Dejan was separated from his mother and his siblings, and they have lived apart ever since. During his journey, he was forced to spend over two years in various refugee camps in Croatia and Austria and in late 1995, he was fortunate to settle in Australia with his grandmother. Now, 25 years later, Dejan is married and a proud father to his son. Some of the topics we covered are:
- His reason for joining the Army
- How the war in Bosnia started for him
- The loss of his father and other members of his family
- Fleeing the war and time as a child refugee
- Issues of identity
- Genocide and collective guilt
- The idea of forgiveness
- What good soldiering looks like
- Settling in Australia
- How his experience influenced his military service
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29. The Story Behind ‘The Voices Of War‘
28. Sahar Fetrat - On the plight of women and girls in Afghanistan
27. Dr Ghassan Jawad Kadhim - Still ‘The Last Optimist In Baghdad‘?
26. LTCOL Dave Grossman - On killing, combat, sleep, ’blind spots’ and everything else in between
25. Dr Mike Martin & Dr Christopher Ankersen - Afghanistan Update and Future
24. Hizbullah Khan - On the current situation and the future of Afghanistan
23. Ehsaan - The Life of a Coalition Interpreter in Afghanistan
22. Hizbullah Khan - Situation in Afghanistan as seen by a local analyst and journalist
21. Dr Kay Danes - On Interpreters and Locally Employed Staff stuck in Kabul
20. Dr Mike Martin - Update on unfolding situation in Afghanistan
19. David Livingstone Smith - On Dehumanisation
18. Shannon E French - On ’The Code of the Warrior’ and Ethics of War
17. Will Yates and Joe McCleary - On Trial for War Crimes: A Soldier’s Experience
16. Andrew Quilty - Perspectives of a Photo- and Investigative- Journalist
15. John Blaxland - Reflexions on Australian military operations and lessons learnt
14. Džemil Hodžić - Finding Light in the Dark
13. Hasan Aygun - The Pragmatic Diplomat
12. Roger Noble - A Major General’s Perspective
11. Harry Moffitt - A Humble Warrior
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