„He Lost the Hardest Struggle of His Life”

A procession of 1,000+ people was accompanying posthumous Second Lieutenant György Kolozsvári, the dead war hero of the Hungarian Defence Forces on his last journey in the afternoon of September 14 at Tata. The 37-year-old career soldier was very seriously injured in Afghanistan during an ambush on a Hungarian military convoy. He died in the Military Hospital, Budapest on September 7.

The troops of the HDF 25th Klapka György Infantry Brigade and the personnel of the eighth rotation of the HDF PRT were also present at the funeral arranged with military honors. On behalf of the Ministry of Defence Defence Minister Dr. Csaba Hende, Parliamentary State Secretary Dr. István Simicskó, Administrative State Secretary Lajos Fodor and LTG Tibor Benkõ, Chief, MoD Defence Staff attended the ceremony that took place in the Kocsi út cemetery of Tata to bid the last farewell to the deceased war hero.

The funeral started with a military band playing Hungarian folk songs at the request of György Kolozsvári’s wife while the changing of the honor guard took place beside the casket covered with the national tricolor.

“We are standing by the catafalque of a beloved and respected comrade of ours again. The worst that we all feared has occurred; Command Sergeant Major György Kolozsvári lost the hardest struggle of his life and succumbed to death. He died just as he lived, since he lost his young life being killed in the line of duty while serving his treasured homeland", Col. Zsolt Sándor, Commanding Officer of the Tata Infantry Brigade said in his farewell speech. He went on to recall the military career path of the dead war hero, noting that thanks to his excellent military leadership skills, humanity and camaraderie György Kolozsvári soon gained respect among his superiors and subordinates.

Col. Sándor pointed out that 2nd Lt. Kolozsvári “was always the first to respond to the call of duty. Thus he went to do tours of duty in several war-torn regions of the world. Far away from Hungary in the service of his homeland, he spent a total of 1,015 days in missions like KFOR, Kosovo (2000 and 2005), the ISAF HUN PRT-2, Afghanistan (2007), EUFOR ALTHEA, Bosnia-Herzegovina (2008) and finally the HUN PRT-8, Afghanistan again. He was awarded the “For Peacekeeping" Service Medal five times as well as the bronze grade of the Medal of Service and the third grade of the NCO Service Medal. On five occasions he also received mementos and rewards from the brigade CO.

Through his humanity, exceptional military leadership talent and the high standards he set for himself he became a key person in the infantry battalion and the brigade", the Commanding Officer said, adding that György Kolozsvári’s exemplary conduct, professional skills and humanity are a lasting memorial in the multinational environment of Afghanistan. He has won glory for the brigade, the entire Hungarian Defence Forces and the Republic of Hungary. His death is an irreplaceable loss for the unit and the whole HDF.

“We were hoping and trusting so much, and now it is so hard for us to come to terms with the fact that the heroic soldier, loving husband and wonderful father is no more! The man of steel who had managed to deal with so many difficulties and tough challenges is no more! He is no more, yet he is with us now! His boyish smile, gestures, sincerity and humanity, his whole personality is here to stay with us", Col. Sándor said.

“Our fallen comrades are not lying in the grave but rather they continue to live deep in our hearts. Let your memory be kept alive with eternal respect and honor. I promise we will never forget you! Most Esteemed Second Lieutenant, Dear Gyuri, may you rest in peace!" – this was how the Commanding Officer of the Tata brigade concluded his speech.

József Michl, the mayor of Tata said the last farewell to the dead war hero on behalf of the town of Tata. He noted that Hungary, the Hungarian Defence Forces and the whole community of Tata are in mourning. “We keep thinking about how little it would have taken for Gyuri to survive", the mayor said, adding that the investigation reveals that our troops did all that was humanly possible and the doctors also made huge efforts to save his life.

“György Kolozsvári was a soldier. He made a conscious decision to undertake a risky and tough walk of life in the military. His profession was his be-all and end-all. As a townsman of Tata, he was serving in the most difficult missions of key importance, undertaking long absences from his family, his much beloved children several times", József Michl said. Although the strength of the Hungarian peacekeeping contingent in ISAF, Afghanistan may not seem significant, the deaths of four Hungarian soldiers make all comparisons meaningless", the mayor of the town stated in his farewell speech. “We went to the faraway Baghlan Province to keep peace and help building schools, hospitals, roads and bridges. Together with his war hero comrade, György Kolozsvári was serving in Afghanistan to achieve these noble goals. We are all proud of him – we can all take pride in our Hungarian troops serving in Afghanistan", József Michl said.

In his farewell speech Catholic field chaplain LTC Tamás Takács quoted from the Gospel according to John. “For everything there is a season…a time to be born and a time to die, a time to keep silence and a time to speak". The padre added that he would rather keep silence because it was very hard for him to speak about that which he had to talk about.

Turning to the troops of the eighth rotation of the HUN PRT, LTC Takács stressed that “you have not yet completed your mission in the PRT because you still have a further task to accomplish, which is to make it happen that someone from among you goes to Gyuri’s children after a while and tells them what a good man their father was."

Posthumous Second Lieutenant György Kolozsvári’s casket was lowered into the grave while the ceremonial company fired a salvo. Several hundred people laid the flowers of remembrance on his grave.

Text: László Szûcs

Photo: Tünde Rácz