Micheal Rajacich was born in Minnesota on October 26, 1913. He served on the OSS team in Serbia during Operation Halyard. Operation Halyard was a mission launched by the Office of Strategic Services – predecessor to both U.S. Special Operations Forces and the Central Intelligence Agency – to rescue more than 500 Allied airmen who were scattered throughout the mountainous region of Serbia after their planes were shot down by the Germans. It remains the largest, most successful, rescue of American airmen in history. “Operation Halyard is an example of how ordinary people can rise to greatness, of what can be accomplished when we commit to goals which are greater than ourselves,” U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Kyle Scott remarked to the crowd during his speech. From August 1944 to February 1945, the Serbian population and a small group of OSS operatives built improvised runways to land U.S. planes from the 15th Air Force to transport the downed airmen to Allied territory. Pranjani was the main collection center where airmen were staged for movement out of Serbia. The OSS team involved in Operation Halyard included Army Capt. Nick Lalich, Lt. George Musulin, Master Sgt. Michael Rajacich, and Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Arthur Jibilian. Major George Vujnovich was the OSS Operations officer working out of Bair coordinating the entire event.