Fallen in the Peacekeeping Mission
“Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is a virtue,” wrote the philosopher Baruch Spinoza.
In a land far from their homeland, under the sky of Lebanon that is never truly silent from the echoes of conflict, three sons of the nation stood on the quietest line, the line between war and hope for peace.
They were part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) mission, another face of Indonesia on the world stage, not with weapons to conquer, but with courage to soothe.
However, fate chose the heaviest path. Praka Farizal Rhomadhon, Kapten (Inf) Zulmi Aditya Iskandar, and Sertu Muhammad Nur Ichwan fell. Not merely falling in duty, but fulfilling the meaning of devotion, namely guarding peace for the world, even when the world itself is not fully ready for that peace.
Human thought has long reminded us that no struggle for peace is truly in vain. “Only the dead have seen the end of war,” said Plato.
That sentence is not merely a bitter reflection, but an acknowledgement that those who fall are the most honest witnesses to the price that humanity must pay to end war. In their deaths, there is a long trace towards a calmer world.
Like Immanuel Kant’s belief that perpetual peace is not an empty dream. It is a moral duty. A homework for humanity that must not be abandoned. Thus, every life offered on that path is not a meaningless loss, but part of the great endeavour of civilisation.
“Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is a virtue,” wrote the philosopher Baruch Spinoza.
In that context, these fallen soldiers were truly fighting for something higher than merely stopping bullets. They were upholding the dignity of humanity.
A sharp irony, that the most worthy battle is against war itself. And there, those three soldiers stood, on a battlefield that is not always visible, but most determining for the future of humanity.
Mahatma Gandhi reminded us that the struggle for peace is always greater than any victory in war. Thus, their falling is not a defeat. It is a moral victory that surpasses statistics, surpasses brief news, surpasses the hustle and bustle of global politics.
We may have lost three soldiers. However, the world gains something far greater, namely a reminder that peace is not born from words, but from the courage of those willing to pay for it with their lives.
Fallen flowers of my soldiers. The highest respects for your devotion. And because of that, there is no death in vain on this path. May you ascend in the hands of God, with God by your side.