The wartime commander of the Frankopan Battalion of the Croatian Army (HV), Bruno Zorica Zulu, died on Wednesday at the age of 72, his comrades from the Frankopan Battalion announced on their Facebook page.
Bruno Zorica was born in Ivanic Grad on February 20, 1952, and is one of the most charismatic warriors from the Homeland War (Croatian War of Independence). Because of his legionary experience, he participated in the creation of special units of the HV. He came to France after the incident he caused during the Croatian Spring in 1972, and after escaping from the communist authorities, he found refuge in the Foreign Legion. He was in France as a legionnaire until the beginning of the Homeland War. The Frankopan Battalion, along with the Zrinski Battalion, was the first special unit of the Croatian Armed Forces. It was founded on July 29, 1991, and the core of the battalion was made up of Croats from the French Foreign Legion who became its commanders and instructors, so the training was organized according to the model of the Foreign Legion.
During the Homeland War, Bruno Zorica fought on numerous battlefields in Croatia, and all the members of the Frankopan Battalion participated in the striking offensive actions of the Croatian Army, including the military-police operation Storm in August 1995. The unit had about 150 members who were trained for all kinds of tasks, mostly in the enemy's background, and during the operation 12 of its members gave their lives in the liberation and defense of Croatia's sovereignty.
Since he retired in 1998, Bruno Zorica lived in his native Ivanic Grad. The funeral of Bruno Zoric Zulu was held on Saturday in the city cemetery in Ivanić Grad with high military honors. Numerous comrades, friends, and acquaintances attended the funeral of the deceased hero, along with those who had heard about his famous war journey and his achievements in the Homeland War, which earned him the rank of brigadier general before he died.
