Colonel and father

Petar Kačić was the son of Ivanka and Petar, originally from Brač. He was born in Split, and shortly afterwards the family moved to Vukovar. There he and his younger brother Miroslav finished elementary and high school.

Petar got a job in Borovo, and in 1973 he married Irena. The young family soon had a daughter Sandra, and two years later twins Igor and Silvija were born.

The family lived happily in their home at the Fairground in Vukovar. Petar and Irena went to work, raised their children and socialized with friends and neighbors of the time.

As they lived near the barracks, already in June 1991 they saw that soldiers, reservists and tanks started arriving there. They gathered under the pretext of an exercise.

- But very quickly it became clear that there was no more idyll, that the time of division and decision had come. - recalled Irena, Peter's wife. For her family, the war started the day Petar started going on guard duty.

He was a brave fighter. With the departure of the first commander of Sajmište's defense, the "Big Boiler" Damjan Samardžić, Petar became the commander, the so-called "Middle Boiler".

Soon their family apartment was destroyed by a hit from an enemy tank. After that, Irena somehow managed to call Petar. She cried, saying that they lost everything, and he just said: - I'm happy that you're alive, let it go.

Irena and their three children then went to a shelter. Petar visited them as soon as he could. And that was rare. Namely, the Fairground was one of the bloodiest battlefields. Company Sajmište, an integral part of the 1st Battalion of the 204th Vukovar Brigade (MZ Sajmište) was one of the bloodiest positions, where the largest number of its commanders perished.

And Petar was an exceptional commander. - He was the embodiment of man, kindness, authority towards us. In the most difficult days of the battle, he knew how to stand up to every individual he commanded. He knew how to raise our morale so that we could endure. - said Slavko Jurić, his comrade.

At the end of September, the unit was joined by HOS forces, which Petar deployed to positions. The next day, September 28, he was seriously wounded in the hand. After his wound was repaired in the Vukovar hospital, Petar did not want to stay. They sent him to a shelter in Olajnica for recovery, where his family was also staying.

He immediately asked his comrades to bring him a "Motorola" so that he could better follow the events on the field. But as soon as he heard that a heavy attack had begun on the battlefield, he stood up and said: - I can't follow it like this! – and went to the front line.

He died in his position, during the fight. - They thought that the attack was over, that everything was over. However, one tank remained in the yard, the burst cut him through the lungs... - said Irena.

Petar did not die on the spot, he was seriously wounded, after which he was taken to the hospital. But there was no help for him. Slavko Jurić, told how he was like a father to young heroes at the time. The loss of Petr, the pillar of Sajmište's defense, hit them hard.

Peter died for his family, his city and his country. At that time, he could not even imagine that the enemy, because of his heroism and heroic death, would live on his son.

Namely, Igor was taken from the shelter. He was supposed to be exchanged, but they were told that he was the son of a fighter from Vukovar. After that, he was taken to Ovčara...

The monument "Father and Son" placed in Mazda Park in Vukovar is the work of Zvonimir Orčić and Josip Cvrtila. It shows the commander of Sajmište, Colonel Petar Kačić, protecting his beloved son Igor. It is a memory of all the fathers and sons who laid down their lives for Lijepa Naša. Father and son, together, cast in bronze will stand forever. As well as their eternal story of courage that saved our nation.