Remember the time the Serbs captured a NATO tank? Or, how your garage becomes a “weapon storage site”!

In 1995(July?), ethnic Serb forces (Army of Republika Srpska) captured several NATO-Netherlands (Royal Netherland Army) armored personnel carriers, which were ‘in-country’ under a United Nations operation. Of course, the Western-NATO news media reported that they were “stolen”.

A tow bar is attached to the AWOL YPR-765, and then to a M88A1 Hercules. U.S. Army (USA) photo by Sergeant Angel Clemons, 12MAR1997.

USA photo by Sergeant Angel Clemons, 12MAR1997.

Two years later, in March 1997, NATO-United States forces made a true ‘barn-find’ when they discovered the ‘AWOL’ (Absent With Out Leave) YPR-765 (a variant of the M113) in a barn/garage in Bosnia & Herzegovina. Of course, the U.S. military referred to the barn/garage as a “weapon storage site”.

USA photo by Sergeant Angel Clemons, 12MAR1997.

USA M88A1 Recovery Vehicle tows the AWOL YPR-765 APC out of a “weapon storage site” in Karakaj, Bosnia-Herzegovina. USA photo by Sergeant Angel Clemons, 12MAR1997.

The U.S. Army (USA) press release also stated they were “confiscating” the YPR-765, referring to it as a Serb Army weapon, and adding that it made multiple confiscations in the first few months of the start of the SFor (Stabilization Force) mission.

The YPR-765 was towed to Camp Dobol, while soldiers with the Bosnian-Serb army watch helplessly. USA photo by Sergeant Angel Clemons, 12MAR1997.

Inside the YPR-765 was found a M2 .50 caliber heavy machine gun, and cans of 50-cal ammo. USA photo by Sergeant Angel Clemons, 12MAR1997.

The USA press releases also contradicted themselves when giving the location, sometimes saying it was Karakaj, sometimes saying it was Zvornik. Zvornik is a city in the Republika Srpska area of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Karakaj is a town north of Zvornik.