(Jason Sandford/Stars and Stripes)

Blace, Macedonia, April 1, 1999: Refugees forced onto trains in Pristinia, provincial capital of Kosovo, gather at the Macedonian border after being dropped off. The Macedonian government estimated that at least 40,000 refugees had entered the country since airstrikes began over Yugoslavia.

Stars and Stripes reporters and photographers filed news stories from Macedonia and Albania as NATO intensified its air campaign in late March through April 1999 and refugees flooded out of Kosovo, looking for safety and security in Macedonia. Following the journalistic principle not to be part of the story, they filed stories about the lives of refugees and airmen, soldiers and sailors. But covering a war begets plenty of stories. Check out some of the reporters’ and photographers’ stories here.