I could see the struggle she was having to rise above the hatred that exists between the Serbs and Bosnian Muslims so she could remain attached to families on both sides of the conflict.

I gathered that Bosnians had taken a relaxed attitude toward their Muslim religion before the war and that behaviorally there wasn’t much real difference between them and the two other religious groups in the country. The war has strengthened their religious beliefs and has been a support in their time of need. It has also drawn them closer to the nations in which a more fundamentalist version of Islam is practiced.

The future

The United States has a strong presence in the area — not only because of our troops, but because of our television broadcasts. Everywhere I went there was CNN and usually MTV. Those Bosnians who can understand English may get more solid news from TV than we do. I have often wished I could see the international version of CNN because of the depth of the stories on nations around the world.

Much is still needed for the Balkans to return to normal. The people are educated and hard-working and are capable of repairing the physical damage that has been done. The emotional traumas will take much longer to mend.