Štefánik was made minister of war of the provisional Czechoslovak government on 14 October 1918, two weeks before the republic was declared on 28 October. He barely saw it: on 4 May 1919 the Caproni aircraft bringing him home from Italy crashed on its approach to Vajnory airfield near Bratislava, killing him and his three-man Italian crew. On 7 May 1919 all four were buried on Bradlo, the bare ridge above his native village, and a memorial plaque was placed on the parish house between 1919 and 1922. The mound that stands over the grave today was built to the design of the architect Dušan Jurkovič and unveiled on 23 September 1928, on the tenth anniversary of the state Štefánik had helped to make.Štefánik sa 14. októbra 1918 stal ministrom vojny dočasnej československej vlády, dva týždne pred vyhlásením republiky 28. októbra. Užil si ju sotva: 4. mája 1919 sa lietadlo Caproni, ktoré ho viezlo domov z Talianska, zrútilo pri prílete na letisko Vajnory pri Bratislave a zahynul on aj jeho trojčlenná talianska posádka. Siedmeho mája 1919 pochovali všetkých štyroch na Bradle, na holom hrebeni nad jeho rodnou obcou, a v rokoch 1919 – 1922 osadili na faru pamätnú tabuľu. Mohylu, ktorá dnes nad hrobom stojí, postavili podľa návrhu architekta Dušana Jurkoviča a odhalili ju 23. septembra 1928 pri desiatom výročí štátu, ktorý Štefánik pomáhal vytvoriť.
