Kawilarang dies of cancer

Kawilarang dies of cancer

One of the Indonesian military's founding fathers Col. (ret)
Alex Evert Kawilarang died on Tuesday at Cipto Mangunkusumo
General Hospital after being treated for prostate cancer for six
weeks.

He was 80, and is survived by his wife Henny Olga Pondaag and
three children.

After being laid overnight at his residence on Jl. Situbondo
No. 8, Central Jakarta, Kawilarang's body will be flown to
Bandung on Thursday morning for burial at Cikutra Heroes
Cemetery.

Born in Jakarta, on Feb. 23, 1920, Kawilarang dedicated his
life to the military. He formed an elite force while serving as
the chief of Bandung-based Siliwangi Military Command overseeing
West Java in 1951.

Under its chief Gen. A.H. Nasution, the Army took over the
elite force six months after its establishment and expanded it
into a special force unit.

Kawilarang also held other key posts, including chief of Bukit
Barisan Military Command overseeing North Sumatra in 1949, chief
of Wirabuana Military Command overseeing eastern Indonesia and a
military attache at the Indonesian embassy in the United States
between 1956 and 1958.

While undertaking diplomatic jobs he resigned from the
military out of protest at the way the government handled a
military-backed rebel movement in Sumatra, better known as
PRRI/Permesta. He was named the chief of staff of the
PRRI/Permesta Armed Forces in 1959. (dja/bby)