Peacekeeping· Civil Aid and Humanitarian Operations
Gnjilane Kosovo
A Marine contribution to the NATO peacekeeping force that moved into Kosovo after the 1999 air campaign drove Serbian forces out.
As part of Operation Joint Guardian, the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, landed from the USS Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group, served as the enabling force for KFOR in the American sector of southeastern Kosovo. Marines of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, with the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, conducted mounted and dismounted patrols through Gnjilane and the surrounding villages, the principal town of the U.S. zone, working to keep order between the returning ethnic Albanians and the remaining Serbs amid the bitter aftermath of the war. Greeted at first like liberators, the Marines patrolled in light armored vehicles to deter reprisal violence and establish a secure environment under UN authority. The deployment was brief, the MEU soon handing over to Army forces, and it cost no Marine casualties.
Record no. 850