Tragic Details About 30 Seconds To Mars

While it might seem like 30 Seconds to Mars has California written all over them, that's not the case. Jared and Shannon Leto left their hometown of Bossier City, Louisiana, when they were young, telling FourTwoNine (via E!), "We escaped early on. It's very oppressive."

While it might seem like 30 Seconds to Mars has California written all over them, that's not the case. Jared and Shannon Leto left their hometown of Bossier City, Louisiana, when they were young, telling FourTwoNine (via E!), "We escaped early on. It's very oppressive."

Lead guitarist Tomo Milicevic (left) told his own story of flight to Kaos2000, and it's terrifying stuff. Born in Sarajevo, he and his family had permanently left Croatia and moved to the U.S. by the time he was in third grade. It was a hard decision, but a straightforward one thanks to a few things: "My parents knew that war was imminent in that country, but they didn't know when so they came here," he shared. "Luckily. If I was still living in Croatia when the war happened, I would definitely be dead right now. Definitely, without question. I would be in the army by 16, fighting in the front lines by age 17."

According to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Croatia enacted mandatory military service in 1991. Croatia declared independence the same year, and fighting quickly escalated and necessitated the involvement of the United Nations by 1992 (via the BBC). Interestingly, 30 Seconds to Mars kicked off another connection to Croatia when, in 2019, they held an island retreat there that had infamously weird cult vibes (via KQED).

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