Rame Sadri Metalia or Ram Sadria, born 29 July 1920, died 1953, was an Albanian communist from Tropoja, Albania. He is known for having fought against Yugoslav diversionists (political extremists) in 1953 on the Albanian-Yugoslav border.

Summary

Ramë Sadria was the son of the Albanian patriot Rame Metalia. In 1953, Serbian spies and agents planned a sabotage operation on the Albanian border; this type of mission had been carried out since 1948. Sadria (who was then working as a border guard) discovered the agents and opened fire. He fought all night but was shot and later died. Rame Sadria is considered a hero in Albania and was decorated with the title “People’s Hero”.

Ram Sadria – Hero of the People

Ram Sadria was born on July 29, 1920, in a family in the village of Dragobi. That house still stands like a small castle and its chimneys look like defensive walls from afar. Although this tower, like many others that have been burned and destroyed three times by foreign invaders, resists like a solid rock.

This is the tower where Ram Sadria was born and raised. His father, Sadri Isufi, along with his axe and plow, never took off his rifle that served him to defend the Homeland. With this patriotic spirit, he also educated his son, Rama. The latter had a desire to help liberate the country. In early November 1944, he put on his hat with the partisan star and joined the XXV Assault Brigade.

Ram Sadria fought with arms in hand until the complete liberation of the country, distinguishing himself for his bravery and courage in clashes with the enemies. After the liberation of the country, his comrades in command proposed that he serve in the army and Rama was very happy, expressing that he was ready to serve with arms in hand for the defense of the country. He remained in the army until April 25, 1945.

After this period, he was assigned to the state border guard forces as a post commander in Lugu e Zi, where he achieved high results in the implementation of assigned tasks. From there, he was appointed to the Cerem post, where he distinguished himself for the implementation of tasks with precision. Many events occurred in the territory of the border post commanded by Ram Sadria.

On the evening of July 12, 1953, as usual, when the post officer was preparing to receive information related to the strengthening of vigilance for the protection of the state border. Commander Rama gathered the officers and communicated to them the information related to the service situation.

At that time, a gang of saboteurs was preparing to enter our country from a neighboring country for acts of terror. The border guards took their duties and went on duty.

It was approaching midnight. The unit commander heard dogs barking. Commander Rama ordered the officers to increase their vigilance and he himself focused on the situation. In a moment, he realized that the dogs’ barking was coming from a house that was suspected of harboring saboteurs. It didn’t take long and the dogs’ barking stopped. The unit commander decided to notify Commander Rama, who at that moment was getting ready to go on duty to be as close as possible to the border guards of the pyramid.

At that moment, the phone rang and then the words came out in disjointed tones, which indicated that there were problems in the service unit. Rama left the receiver, notified some friends and quickly set off for the house where he had suspicions. The tasks had been given precisely and were reinforced with more complete measures. The terrain was very familiar to the officer and without delay the paths and ambushes were quickly taken.

Comrade commander, a soldier spoke, someone has scared the sheep in that house, because we heard noise and the bleating of sheep. I heard it too, said Rama, but we must open our ears carefully… Before he finished speaking, he heard a very light noise behind him. They must not have escaped us, he said to himself, and set off in that direction. He gave the soldiers additional tasks to the place where the bandits would pass. Carefully and quickly, the border guards led by Rama took over the Vranica Pass.

The gang had left the village and was walking towards its objective. Suddenly the bandits heard a loud voice: “Stop, drop your weapons, you have nowhere to go!” The gang leader who was inside the group immediately ordered them to advance, firing their weapons. Commander Rama returned fire with fire. Continuous shots were exchanged. From the fire that was exchanged, it seemed that the gang was large in number, but Rama and his comrades did not move from their fighting position.

The fire continued for some time, but fatal for Rama, who was shot in the back. The soldier who was next to the commander realized that Ram Sadria’s rifle was no longer firing. Everything ended here as soon as the light began to dawn. At these moments, silence fell, because Commander Ram Sadria was killed. But even the bandits had a tragic end because the paths were occupied by other border guards and the people’s forces who were watching day and night. Ram Sadria has been declared a People’s Hero.

Written by Adem Ismaili, Former state border protection soldier

Sources

Ramë Sadri Metalia (Google Books-ID xqO4AAAAIAAJ)

Heronj te heshtur, Volum 7 (Google Books-ID cXi4AAAAIAAJ)