DESCRIPTION:
The Battle of Vukovar was an 87-day siege of the Croatian city of Vukovar by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), supported by various Serbian paramilitary forces, between August-November 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. It ended with the defeat of the local Croatian National Guard, the near-total destruction of Vukovar and the murder or expulsion of most of the Croat population of the city and surroundings.
Although the battle was a significant and symbolic loss for Croatia, which did not regain control of the town until 1998, it was also a very costly victory for the JNA and helped to gain international support for Croatian independence. As such, it is widely regarded as having been a crucial turning point in the course of the war, and a Pyrrhic victory.
Vukovar was defended by a force of some 1,800 men, organised as the 204th Vukovar Brigade of the Croatian National Guard (ZNG). The Brigade was assembled from a number of disparate elements including 400 members of the Croatian 4th Battalion/3rd Guards Brigade and the 1st Guards Brigade plus elements of other ZNG units, 300 police officers from Vukovar, Slavonski Brod, and Varaždin, and 1,100 civilian volunteers from Vukovar and nearby communities.[2] Volunteers also arrived from other parts of Croatia, including a number from the far-right paramilitary Croatian Defence Forces (HOS).None of the defending units were trained military formations. The defenders were a cross-section of Vukovar society.The attacking force was a mixture of soldiers from the Yugoslav People's Army who had been conscripted from across Yugoslavia, members of the Serbian Territorial Defense Forces (Teritorijalna Obrana or TO), Chetniks (Serbian nationalist paramilitaries), local Serb militiamen and units of the Yugoslav Navy and the Yugoslav Air Force. At its peak, the force in the vicinity of Vukovar numbered about 50 000 troops.[1] The Yugoslav military was well-trained and organised and all of the Yugoslav/Serb forces were well-equipped with a full range of military weaponry, ranging from assault rifles and machine guns to heavy artillery, rockets and tanks. They were supported by aircraft and naval vessels on the Danube.
The city in 1994, 3 years after the battle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfX4GJBSI0g&feature=player_embedded
Tank Grave Yard

During the period of 14 to 20 September, JNA launched some of the largest tank and infantry attacks at the city. One of the major tank attacks in this period was started on September 18 from the north on Trpinjska Street; launched by the JNA's 51st Mechanized Brigade's one Mechanized Battalion of about 30 tanks and 30 APCs. When the first tanks reached the Croatian lines, the leading column was ambushed and come under heavy fire from Croatian small arms and rockets, directed from the roofs and basenents along the street. The Croatian ambush would typically funnel the Serbian armoured columns into "killing fields", and then the RPG gunners would knock out the first and last tank in the line, thereby trapping the rest of tanks in the middle. Almost useless in urban combat, Serbian tanks were unable to elevate their tank barrels low enough to fire into basements. The column was almost completely wiped out. As a result, an area where the fighting occurred was nicknamed "Tank Graveyard". In total, about one hundred armoured vehicles were destroyed there, 15 of which were destroyed by Colonel Marko Babić.

Commander of Vukovar Garrison.

Zadro Blago commanded the 3rd Battallion of the 204th (Vukovar) Croatian Army Brigade during the bloody Battle of Vukovar, along with two of his sons, where he bravely led actions against the JNA and local Serb forces. Zadro's unit was assigned to defend the vital Trpinjska cesta (Trpinja road), an open road leading directly into Vukovar. Because of its importance, the road became primary target for JNA tank units attacking the city and it became known as the Tank Graveyard due to actions of Zadro's anti-tank rocket groups Yellow Ants and Turbo platoon which fought off many tank attacks.


Zadro was killed by Serb forces on October 16. His body was recovered and buried by his unit. However, when the Serb forces surrendered the city, his body was removed and remained missing until 1998, when it was exhumed along with the bodies of 937 other victims from a mass grave in Borovo Naselje.


After his death, he was promoted posthumously to the rank of major general. Two of his sons fought with him in Vukovar; his eldest, Robert, disappeared during combat near Kupres, Bosnia and Herzegovina


The Vukovar water tower, still stands tall after continuous bombardment, became a symbol of resistance. It is preserved in its damaged state as a memorial and reminder.