There are living people who deserve this decoration too, because one doesn't have to die or be killed to be a hero, Matic told RTL television.
He said the war ended with the Hague war crimes tribunal's acquittal of Gotovina and Markac on Friday and that Croatia was turning to the future, but it would continue to search for the missing and care for disabled war veterans and the children of killed defenders.
Matic said police estimated that 100,000 people took part in today's procession of remembrance from Vukovar's hospital to the memorial cemetery in tribute to the victims of the siege and fall of the eastern Croatian town into the hands of Serb and Yugoslav People's Army forces in the autumn of 1991.