One day I hosted a veteran of over 100 years – Kosciuszko, who survived the russian deportation, the catalyst service in the Red Army's battalions, and having joined the 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division, passed her full conflict trail: from the slaughter at Lenino to the capture of Berlin. erstwhile we finished the interview, the boner pulled out a box full of pictures.
When I leaned over the box, I noticed that veteran front photographs were mixed with contemporary prints. At first glance, I recognized that they presented Polish soldiers on a mission in Iraq. The veteran noticed my surprise and the uninquired replied: “These are pictures of my grandson. You know, he was in the war too, and the frontists stick together”...
This is 1 of those, it would seem, tiny events that are stuck in the subconscious and manifest unexpectedly with the force of the symbol. I felt this clearly at the time erstwhile the function and participation of Polish soldiers in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan was diminished. It was painful to find that shed blood does not warrant the gratitude of those for whom it was offered... But in our history, it is nothing fresh – the Polish soldier has frequently experienced memories of people for whom he fought in the name of the slogan “For our freedom and yours”.
But at the same time, we gotta hit our own breasts. Do we ourselves remember our soldiers who, not only in Iraq or Afghanistan, but in another inflamed places in the planet have served and served for many years? They participate not only in peace missions, but besides in allied commitments within NATO or the European Union. Do we besides remember those who, from the 1950s, through the period of the "communy" until the times of systemic change and free Poland, watched over fragile peace in the planet after specified bloody conflicts as in Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Syria, Lebanon, erstwhile Yugoslavia and many another countries? There they gained not only the gratitude of the local, tragically experienced war-torn communities, but besides were appreciated by their associates from the quotas created by Western states, theoretically being our possible opponents during the Cold War! In fact, at the time and in these spaces, the dream of going back where we belong – to the free planet of Western culture grew. And erstwhile the Iron Curtain dividing Europe fell in 1989, it was through the service and sacrifice of our missionaries, specified as the soldiers of the GROM Military Unit, that NATO's doubles were opened faster for us.
This is simply a crucial part of the past not only for the Polish Army, but for the full Polish society. Therefore, we decided to make it the subject of our quarterly's first issue in 2026. So we invited authors from the Veteran Centre for Activities outside the State Borders – Mariusz Sybilski and Tomasz Jasionek, who are co-authors of the book “Outside the Borders” published in 2024 by the Center. past of Polish soldiers' participation in military abroad missions". We hope that their articles in “The Armed Poland. History” will contribute to spreading this publication not only among soldiers. We besides gave the level to veterans of abroad missions, so that thanks to their memories from Korea, Syria, the erstwhile Yugoslavia, Iraqi Karbala or Afghanistan, the reader could not only know the facts, but besides feel their atmosphere and see how hard and ambiguous the stories of these missions – frequently called peaceful or stabilizing, or, in fact... in any case, it was either a war, or a fragile truce, the breach of which threatened immediately to rekindle the conflict.
Let us learn and remember the communicative of our Heroes.
Feel free to read.
