Stone on a Long Journey

The stone, which originates from the Doberdo Plateau (the soldiers of the 39th Infantry Regiment had fought there, too in WW1), came to Hungary in 2012. During the last year’s military exercise in Italy called „European Wind 2012" – where the 39th battalion participated on the Hungarian side – the leadership of the subunit made a decision. Wherever they are bound to do their duty in the future – be it in Hungary or abroad – they will take this stone with themselves, symbolising with this the strong sentiment of cohesion, comradeship, and the respect to the fallen ancestors.

That is how the stone arrived in Kosovo in 2013. On an early autumn day Major József Gál, the local senior officer of the 39th infantry battalion gave a presentation to the gathered service members, about the history, the battles, and the theatres of war of the battalion, where more than twenty thousand soldiers of the subunit died the death of heroes in the past. The predecessors of the unit had arrived to the Italian front 98 years ago, at the end of September 1915, where later the regiment stood their ground triumphantly in nine battles, said Major Gál. In the last fight, at the banks of the River Piave, in June 1918, they lost a thousand soldiers. With this, the Doberdo mission ended.

The personnel will pay tribute with the stone-laying ceremony to the soldiers who died the death of heroes during the 257 years’ existence of the 39th infantry regiment and the 39th infantry battalion, whose memory we must hand down worthily to the succeeding generations – he added.

After the speech, the Travelling Stone was laid in the “Hungarian Garden" in a hidden place surrounded by the Hungarian barracks. The commemoration ended with the blessings of the Reformed Chaplain Lieutenant Ferenc Dudás.

Photo: The author