August 25, 1998 – 28 years ago, my father, Nenad Radojčić, was wounded in Kosovo while serving as a member of the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit. It was a moment that changed the trajectory of my family, a day that, had he not survived, would have meant I would never have been born.
Why is my first blog post about my father? Because we celebrated this day as his second birthday, and because I remember it as a day for celebration, rebirth, and a new beginning, even though he has not been with us since September 11, 2015. This is also the day from which my website and everything I believe in will become part of my long-term digital footprint.
My first blog post is about Nenad also because his life and death largely defined who I am and what health, happiness, and life mean to me. My dad, my dragon, my strength, an eternal and inexhaustible source of inspiration and motivation, love, and sorrow.
And as of August 10, 2026, posthumously, but for me for a lifetime, etched into Adnen Enterprises.
Nenad Radojčić – A Brief Biography
Born on August 30, 1967, in Pristina, the first son of Milijanka and Đorđe, and three years later, the older brother of Bojan.
He graduated from the Military High School in Mostar and later from the Military Academy in Zadar for the Air Force and Air Defense.
In 2000, he also became a Professor of Sociology with a degree from the University of Pristina – Faculty of Philosophy – Department of Sociology and Philosophy.
After finishing the academy, he worked in the military, and then in the Pristina SAJ until he was wounded. After the bombing, my parents moved to Prokuplje, and then in 2002 to Niš, where I had been born the previous year.
While a large part of my father's life was defined by his career in the military, the SAJ, and the police, I am here to talk more about the man he was, what he loved, who he loved, and what he lived for.
IPSC Career.
If anything could rival the love he felt for his children, it was his love for firearms. I wouldn't say it was a struggle, but in a way, my sisters and I competed with pistols for supremacy in Dad's heart.
Depending on the competition season, you can guess who won.
My home was always adorned with trophies and medals from numerous competitions. He was the champion of Yugoslavia, a member of the Serbian national IPSC team, and an international judge until his death. Only in his final years did he begin to work with ballistics for cold weapons and firearms.
Some of the competitions I remember most as the "highlights" of this career were the World Championship in South Africa in 2002, then the European Championship in Portugal in 2013, and the World Championship in Orlando (USA) – 2014 IPSC Handgun World Shoot – in 2014.
A father and, at heart, a grandfather.
For my sister Natalija:
"A rock of a man, always there when you need someone to listen."
My eldest sister, Olga, says:
"The greatest mind of all time!"
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My mother, Glorija, says:
"A man with a big heart and one of the smartest men I have ever met."
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For me:
"He was strict when necessary, but most of the time he was cheerful and, to me, the pinnacle of a father's emotional intelligence."
Sadly, he didn't live to hold his granddaughters, Miona and Iskra.
Nenad, my father.
Now, I’m one of those people who never called their grandmother "nana" but always "baba," and I always called my mother "majka" instead of "mama." And so, while I called my father "tata," I never spoke of him as "tata," but as "otac" (father). I hope that makes sense.
In the morning, before work, my father would have a cup of coffee and a shot of rakija while listening to music, usually film scores:
Nenad Radojcic Morning Coffee and Rakija
He loved science fiction, the universe, aliens, and ancient cultures. He took me to the cinema, and we spent days watching Ancient Aliens, Pawn Stars, and National Geographic. The last movies we watched together in the theater were Edge of Tomorrow and Riddick.
Some of my earliest memories are of our frequent trips to the video store to rent movies: Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Pitch Black, Kill Bill. Family time was most often spent watching movies.
He also loved horses, and my fondest memories are from our horseback riding trips.
When he was on vacation, he would make us French toast for breakfast and his famous fried mushrooms for lunch.
My father didn't use social media; he used the same Sony Ericsson for 11 years, repairing it himself with a needle and tweezers. When my mother bought him an iPhone, he sold it and bought a competition pistol :D
He would often clean his pistol on the terrace; it was his moment of peace and concentration.
He lived with a bullet in his lungs. Severely wounded and 90% disabled, my father spent his life running by the Nišava River every single day, training because his spine was calcifying as a result of his injuries.
If he had stopped training, he would have ended up bedridden. That is where my motivation to never make excuses comes from.
My father passed away on September 2, 2015, in the center of Niš, after being struck by a bus on the street. Seeing the bus at the last moment, he tried to dodge it as a pedestrian, but the side mirror hit him in the head. He fell.
He had no visible injuries on his body. He was placed in an induced coma from which they woke him once; he started to fight, but then he didn't wake up again. His organ systems slowly began to fail due to the shearing of brain synapses from the force of the blow to his head.
He passed away 9 days later from his head injuries, on the day of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist.
The day before, we were called to say our goodbyes. In the hallway outside the intensive care unit, we all suddenly heard his voice say the word "Gloria." We all turned around, and the doctor went inside, but he was still asleep. He had actually said his goodbye then, and his body left us the next day.
That was also the last time I heard his voice. I don't have a recording of him speaking, only fragmented memories and the occasional dream where, when I recall what he said to me, I know it was him.
Forever in the memories of those who loved him. Now, immortalized by this blog and the continuation of my career.
"Be better than you were yesterday"
