Grace Murphy 💙

Before he sang “You’re Beautiful,” James Blunt says he was ordered to overpower 200 Russian soldiers at an airport in Kosovo. He questioned the order. Then a British general came on the radio. It was June 1999. Blunt was 25, serving as a British Army officer near the front of a NATO force advancing toward Pristina airport. Russian troops had arrived first. According to Blunt, they pointed their weapons at his men and warned them against entering. The instruction he says came down from NATO commander General Wesley Clark was to “overrun and overpower the Russians.” Blunt had armed troops behind him. The Russians were standing in front of them. Carrying out the order risked turning a dispute over an airport into a direct military confrontation. He began questioning the instructions. Then General Mike Jackson intervened. At the Oxford Union, Blunt recalled Jackson’s words: “I will not have my soldiers be responsible for starting World War III.” The troops pulled back and surrounded the airfield. Blunt says that two days later, the Russians asked to share their food and water. The British response was that they could share supplies if the Russians shared access to the airport. The wider standoff still required negotiations. It would be misleading to say one young officer settled the entire crisis himself. But listen to how Blunt tells the story. He calls it the moment of his life he would most like to be remembered for. Then, after describing the confrontation, he makes a point of giving Jackson the credit. The famous singer is telling the audience to remember someone else’s name.