The city of Dayton continues celebrating the 30 year anniversary of the Dayton Peace Accords.
On the morning of Nov. 14, 2025, at the corner of Salem and Riverview Avenues, a group laid a wreath inside the Richard C. Holbrooke Memorial Plaza. They commemorated the man for whom this space is named and who is considered one of the architects of the Dayton Peace Accords, U.S. Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke.
Jule Rastikis is president of the Salem Avenue Business Association. He’s part of a larger effort to create a Peace Corridor Gateway at Salem and Riverview Avenues.
"It lives as a constant reminder that peace is possible in any moment as long as peace is desired," Rastikis said.
David Holbrooke is son to Ambassador Holbrooke. His documentary, The Diplomat, illuminates how 50 years of American policies shaped Richard Holbrooke’s international career and his commitment to stop the fighting.
"I knew he was brilliant. I knew that he was bold, relentless in a way that was kind of remarkable, and that's what you need to bring peace to the end of that war," David Holbrooke said. "He knew that the stakes, especially when he was here at Dayton, were so high.
International observers estimate more than 100,000 Bosnians, Serbs, Croats and others died during the three year conflict.
"I think the reason the Bosnian War was so hard, it pitted neighbor against neighbor, it pitted people who had previously cared about each other, had relationships, and all of a sudden they were violent," he said.
Nov. 1, 1995, Richard Holbrooke, a team of U.S. advisers and leaders from Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia gathered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to craft a peace plan to end the war.
According to David Holbrooke, his father wanted the peace talks in Dayton because there were fewer distractions.
"He chose Dayton because it was off the beaten path, because he knew that to bring the Balkan presidents here and kind of isolate them, there was nothing going on, and it stressed, 'we're here to do this and just this,'" David Holbrooke said.
"I think the other part of why 'Dayton', it's historical, the Wright brothers and there is a real important part of American history that went down here, and my father wanted these people to understand it," he said.
David Holbrooke said his father was also impressed by the U.S. Air Force Museum. "My father saw that place, to have his opening dinner in that great hall with bombers also told the Serbs, 'this is serious.'"
On Nov. 21, 1995 the Baltic leaders put their initials on the frame-work of the Dayton Peace Accords. On Dec. 14, it was finalized and signed in Paris.
David Holbrooke said current conflicts in the Sudan, Gaza and Ukraine can easily make international peace seem unlikely. However, he believes ordinary people can be on the front lines of disrupting conflicts by building unity.
"Be decent to each other and understand that we're different. We have to work toward it every day in every way that we can, whether it's small gestures or bigger gestures," he said. "We can't take peace for granted."
The Dayton Peace Accords Anniversary Committee is sponsoring several other events to commemorate these historic talks.
On Nov. 15, the group will host a gala at the Hope Hotel & Richard C. Holbrooke Conference Center. During this event, U.S. Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns will receive the Dayton Peace Prize. He is ambassador to China.
