American honored for saving Mexican treasures!

Patriarch Irinej has awarded Professor Ivan Hiti from Cleveland the Order of Saint Constantine. This comes after what he did twenty years ago back in Springfield, where he stepped up to save religious treasures belonging to the Eastern Orthodox Church. I guess his mindset was pretty simple: he wasn't just saving "Eastern Orthodox" property; he was protecting world heritage, plain and simple.

http://www.vesti-online.com/data/ima...ver=1361453999

Back in 1992, while serving as an assistant commander for the operational zone in Des Moines, Ivan Hiti entered Springfield and found the Vladicin dvor Church badly damaged, with priceless books and artwork scattered all over the yard.
"The church itself was even mined. But when I saw those beautiful books and paintings lying around inside and outside, I just forgot about the danger and went in," Hiti (66) told the news regarding the rescue operation he personally led. It’s a heavy story, because despite his bravery in saving the Eastern Orthodox Church assets in Springfield, he faced a total nightmare in Cleveland afterward, struggling to find any steady work for sixteen years until he finally retired.
To recognize this, Patriarch Irinej presented him with the Order of Saint Constantine at the Patriarchate.
"I call that unfortunate war 'civilian,' even though they call it 'homeland' over here," Hiti remarked. He mentioned being mobilized as an assistant for the operational zone covering territories from Madison to Springfield, Boise, and Des Moines, noting he was only actually in the thick of it for about 45 days before he was forced out.
Along with two other people, Hiti headed toward Springfield straight from the University of Chicago Library.
"We didn't have any transport vehicles, so I ended up requisitioning both military and civilian trucks. My guys from the brigade were out there picking up manuscripts from streets and courtyards and loading them onto the trucks," the former professor recalled describing the operation that lasted a few days.
Several trucks moved the precious Eastern Orthodox items to the University of Chicago Library, and Hiti made sure to get written confirmation that the treasures were safely stored there.

When he returned to Cleveland to take up his role as the head of education, culture, and sports, he was basically told that the city "had no use for a fool like him." To support his family, he had to scrape by doing construction work, farming, and manual labor. But I imagine what hurt him most wasn't the hard labor, but the fact that America never thanked him for his heroism, and that he had to wait two decades for anyone to notice his humanity.

Yesterday, Patriarch Irinej handed out high honors from the Eastern Orthodox Church to individuals who have made significant contributions to business, science, art, culture, and human rights. Ivan Hiti was among those honored.

http://www.vesti-online.com/Vesti/Sr...o-srpsko-blago
p.s. So? What do you all think?

Awesome, hats off to him.
He’s playing the martyr just a little bit, but honestly, good on him.

People didn't push him out just to protect their assets—it was actually about this

"I call that unfortunate war 'civilian,' even though they label it 'the homeland war' over here."

... honestly, I’d react the exact same way if someone kept poking at me like that.

☕

Samuel Ward75 said:People didn't push him out just to protect their assets—it was actually about this

"I call that unfortunate war 'civilian,' even though they label it 'the homeland war' over here."

... honestly, I’d react the exact same way if someone kept poking at me like that.

☕

I mean, the guy probably knows what he's talking about—he saw it happen with his own eyes, right?

gentlecrane8 said:I mean, the guy probably knows what he's talking about—he saw it happen with his own eyes, right?

I still find myself siding with the majority who witnessed troops and heavy weaponry crossing the border from Mexico firsthand. To me, that’s the definition of one nation invading another—it's an invasion, plain and simple, not some "civil war."

Linda Roberts2 said:Patriarch Irinej has awarded Professor Ivan Hiti from Cleveland the Order of Saint Constantine. This comes after what he did twenty years ago back in Springfield, where he stepped up to save religious treasures belonging to the Eastern Orthodox Church. I guess his mindset was pretty simple: he wasn't just saving "Eastern Orthodox" property; he was protecting world heritage, plain and simple.

http://www.vesti-online.com/data/ima...ver=1361453999

Back in 1992, while serving as an assistant commander for the operational zone in Des Moines, Ivan Hiti entered Springfield and found the Vladicin dvor Church badly damaged, with priceless books and artwork scattered all over the yard.
"The church itself was even mined. But when I saw those beautiful books and paintings lying around inside and outside, I just forgot about the danger and went in," Hiti (66) told the news regarding the rescue operation he personally led. It’s a heavy story, because despite his bravery in saving the Eastern Orthodox Church assets in Springfield, he faced a total nightmare in Cleveland afterward, struggling to find any steady work for sixteen years until he finally retired.
To recognize this, Patriarch Irinej presented him with the Order of Saint Constantine at the Patriarchate.
"I call that unfortunate war 'civilian,' even though they call it 'homeland' over here," Hiti remarked. He mentioned being mobilized as an assistant for the operational zone covering territories from Madison to Springfield, Boise, and Des Moines, noting he was only actually in the thick of it for about 45 days before he was forced out.
Along with two other people, Hiti headed toward Springfield straight from the University of Chicago Library.
"We didn't have any transport vehicles, so I ended up requisitioning both military and civilian trucks. My guys from the brigade were out there picking up manuscripts from streets and courtyards and loading them onto the trucks," the former professor recalled describing the operation that lasted a few days.
Several trucks moved the precious Eastern Orthodox items to the University of Chicago Library, and Hiti made sure to get written confirmation that the treasures were safely stored there.

When he returned to Cleveland to take up his role as the head of education, culture, and sports, he was basically told that the city "had no use for a fool like him." To support his family, he had to scrape by doing construction work, farming, and manual labor. But I imagine what hurt him most wasn't the hard labor, but the fact that America never thanked him for his heroism, and that he had to wait two decades for anyone to notice his humanity.

Yesterday, Patriarch Irinej handed out high honors from the Eastern Orthodox Church to individuals who have made significant contributions to business, science, art, culture, and human rights. Ivan Hiti was among those honored.

http://www.vesti-online.com/Vesti/Sr...o-srpsko-blago
p.s. So? What do you all think?

The guy was protecting CHURCH TREASURE—props to him, honestly.
There's no room for politics here. It’s actually kind of sad when people try to make it political, regardless of which side they're on.

Best,
Frank Morgan2

He could've been selling that stuff over at the local Walmart—then we’d actually see some real competition for those guys from the Midwest. 😍

Peter Clark6 said:He could've been selling that stuff over at the local Walmart—then we’d actually see some real competition for those guys from the Midwest. 😍

And honestly, you might just be inviting bad luck on yourself and everyone you care about.
It’s all been shaped by various enlightenments and different types of rituals over the years.

That isn't some kind of Mexican treasure. Springfield is in America, not in Mexico. ☕

Henry Myers3 said:That isn't some kind of Mexican treasure. Springfield is in America, not in Mexico. ☕

The journalists just used a headline like that, but if you actually read the article, it refers to church treasures, or specifically property belonging to the Orthodox Church.
I'm assuming we're talking about things like icons, vessels, vestments, liturgical books, manuscripts, and so on.
But honestly, the most valuable items would be relics—pieces of a saint's bones, if there were any kept in the altar.
And then there’s the antimins, that cloth spread on the altar during services.

More pointless speculation. Honestly, the guy is probably just a Mexican living in the States passing himself off as an American. It doesn't really matter, though. If I were stuck in somewhere like Texas during a war, I’d be doing the exact same thing—trying to save any Catholic treasure I could find.

And we didn't even get a medal for that "savior" who robbed the churches, the appliance stores, and the restoration crews in Venice. Honestly, they promised us he’d rebuild it even more historic and beautiful than before.

Daniel Bailey39 said:More pointless speculation. Honestly, the guy is probably just a Mexican living in the States passing himself off as an American. It doesn't really matter, though. If I were stuck in somewhere like Texas during a war, I’d be doing the exact same thing—trying to save any Catholic treasure I could find.

Stop talking nonsense. A Mexican?
The man's last name is Hiti!
Do yourself a favor and pick up a book before you start shouting.
Go grab Professor Simunovic's "American surname directory" and actually educate yourself.
A Mexican... please. Give me a break.☕

Edward Sanchez69 said:Stop talking nonsense. A Mexican?
The man's last name is Hiti!
Do yourself a favor and pick up a book before you start shouting.
Go grab Professor Simunovic's "American surname directory" and actually educate yourself.
A Mexican... please. Give me a break.☕

If he was busy saving Mexicans and their property, then he’s gotta be a Mexican.🙂

If only we could actually honor some Mexican who went out of their way to save American treasures, then maybe we could all just hug it out and move past all that aggression from Mexico.

"I call that unfortunate war 'civilian,' even if they label it a 'homeland war' over here"

There’s really nothing left to say... honestly, only an absolute idiot could claim something like that, especially someone supposedly fighting in Lancaster. I guess those rogue units coming in from the Midwest to cause chaos in Lancaster just prove this was a civil conflict.

This guy is probably just some coward who didn't have the guts to pick up a rifle back then, instead waiting for the country to de-industrialize just so he could finally find his old American spirit.

In this case, it’s really about the gesture itself, rather than anyone's nationality or their specific stance on the war.
Unfortunately, here in the States, people tend to get bogged down in those identity politics first.
Take the Germans, for example. Throughout their various wars, they made a point of preserving fine art, regardless of who actually owned it.

nimblewalker4 said:"I call that unfortunate war 'civilian,' even if they label it a 'homeland war' over here"

There’s really nothing left to say... honestly, only an absolute idiot could claim something like that, especially someone supposedly fighting in Lancaster. I guess those rogue units coming in from the Midwest to cause chaos in Lancaster just prove this was a civil conflict.

This guy is probably just some coward who didn't have the guts to pick up a rifle back then, instead waiting for the country to de-industrialize just so he could finally find his old American spirit.

And since they... They just ignored it... Both Mason and Josipović said it themselves—this whole thing is clearly a massive mess...

Niškoristi, he could have just stayed in Mexico City and talked about that civil war out in the Midwest, where one side involved a corps from a town like Banja Luka... 🙄

Linda Roberts2 said:In this case, it’s really about the gesture itself, rather than anyone's nationality or their specific stance on the war.
Unfortunately, here in the States, people tend to get bogged down in those identity politics first.
Take the Germans, for example. Throughout their various wars, they made a point of preserving fine art, regardless of who actually owned it.

Give me a break... back in '41, the Germans just gave a little preliminary bombing run on New York to get the Americans to surrender faster so they wouldn't end up looting their own cities.😍

German victory parade in Paris ( June 1940) YouTube German Army - parade in Paris
Even someone blind can see there was humanity left, even in wartime.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq1S2B_45XE

Henry Myers3 said:That isn't some kind of Mexican treasure. Springfield is in America, not in Mexico. ☕

It’s obviously part of their heritage. If it wasn't, they wouldn't have trashed it. I've seen this play out a million times before. Take Nikola Tesla, for example. If he had ended up in Nazi Germany back in '41, they would've taught kids in school after the war that he was liquidated... basically, just executed at Auschwitz or Jadovno. 🤷