Stanislav Gazdík

“When I finished the army service, I was wondering what to do. I wanted to join the police or the army but it was kind of a pointless period. In the army, they said that I couldn’t join the units that had been set up by the UN in the 90s. They had some waiting lists and said that I couldn’t join for the time being. I also wanted to join the police, the URNA (special units of rapid involvement). I was told I didn’t pass the psychological tests. I later asked one of my friends who worked at the police to find out, why I wasn’t admitted, because I didn’t think I would be so stupid not to pass the psychological tests. He told me I was one of the best ones, but I was fresh out of the school and they would have to pay some remuneration, so it was easier to tell me that I didn’t pass the tests. So I told myself: ‘When they don’t want me at home, I’ll try my luck somewhere else.’ I read an article about the special units of the Foreign Legion (formerly called CRAP). So I found out how to apply, and with a few of my friends who also wanted to join, we left on 8th of May 1991.”

“I was on a leave when the revolution came. When you were out of the army, you didn’t really care about television and other things. Girls were usually the thing that we were interested in when we had some time off. I came to Prague and had a red beret. When I arrived at the main station, everybody was staring at me, and I was staring at them. Flags everywhere – I didn’t know that there was any revolution at all. I went to the toilet and somebody came to me and said: ‘What were you doing at the Wenceslas square (meant Národní třída – author’s note)?’ – ‘What Wenceslas square? I just came from the barracks.’ – ‘It’s revolution and you were beating us!’ So I told him that I just came and didn’t beat anybody up. But I took my beret off not to provoke anybody. Later I found out what was going on. Changes in the army after the revolution? There were no more trainings, no proper preparation. They sent us somewhere as relief labor. That had nothing to do with military training”

“The hardest mission for me, both physically and mentally, was at the bridge in Mitrovica. My job was to train the police and security forces. We were a commando with ten members and our task was to secure people who lead the protests and various other things. We served for four months and we were constantly on alert. We slept like ninjas, in our bulletproof vests to be ready to get up anytime somebody called us. It was hard. The second day after we came to Mitrovica, they staged a riot just to see how we operate and what our strategy was.”

“I always told myself that it’s better to get somewhere, go through that and then leave, rather than not being there to form an opinion about it. In the Legion, there were a lot of people who ran away and then they said: ‘You know, it was like this and that.’ But they haven’t really been anywhere. I was there and stayed for fifteen years. I was leaving with my head held high. One must sacrifice some things when he wants to accomplish something. (...) I always wanted to join the special forces.”