Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
There was a Somali Militia man who was shot by a member of another faction (clan). He was discovered outside the strong point known as K4, commanded by Major Len OliveroIt was a very strategic location controlling the areas around the seaport and the airport. He was taken into the strong point to be treated.
With the very basic of medical supplies nothing much could be done for him by the Rangers there. The guys gathered around him are medics. They treated him to their best of their ability with the limited resources they had. They gave him a cigarette.
The rounds had penetrated through the back and had exitted through the front. He was later collected by the members of his clan, he was still alive when he was carried off by his family. Warning ! Warning ! Image is very graphic, disturbing, not for the squeamish. Click here at your own risk if you want to have a look at a gunshot wound.
Captain Shanmuganathan PGB and 207770 Ranger Mat Isa bin Hassan PGB
I heard him call out for his batman,"Mahbot ! Mahbot ! I need water...". Cpl Ishak told him that his batman was taking care of the packs at the assembly area. After a little while he started calling out for his Platoon Sergeant, "Sergeant Ismail.....! Sergeant Ismail...! " After not receiving any replies to his calls. He gave out his last orders with his dying breath, " Please take care of my boys (his soldiers), I have not the strength in me any more....." Out of his sense of loyalty, Rgr Mat Isa seeing and hearing this call, without due regard to his safety and well being, dashed towards Captain Shanmuganathan to save him. As he approached his commander, the enemy's bullets slammed into his body causing him to fall across the body of his commander, as if to protect him
The battle lasted until 1900 hours at night, after that time the enemy's main body withdrew. Even after the withdrawal we opened fire whenever there was a movement toward our position or whenever the enemy tried to recover some of their weapons. Rgr Mohamad and I were about 7 feet behind the the bodies of Captain Shan and Rgr Mat Isa until the following morning. 2Lt Basri arrived at the ending of the battle, with his Platoon's help we managed to pull out Rgr Mutalib from the front to a safe area.Continued here
This sketch was drawn by one of my soldier's whilst in Somalia. Major Ivan Lee had been keeping this for a long time. 9 years to be exact. It's time to share this sketch with everyone who visits this blog. I am sorry, I cannot recall the name of the soldier. Click on the picture to enlarge.
PGB awards bestowed upon Sergeant Joseph Mileng ak Kilong, Corporal Dajai ak Anggie and Ranger Unggek ak Anti
Thursday, September 22, 2005
One of the enemy's round hit my left hip, causing me to fall, the fall caused my weapon to be flung onto the ground.
I rubbed my injured side, which was numb and crawled to my weapon. After retrieving my weapon I continued towards the fleeing enemy who had shot me. Seeing that I was still in pursuit the enemy took up the prone position taking a bead on me. Unfortunately for the enemy the weapon failed to fire. I closed up to the enemy and thrust the barrel of my self loading rifle into his chest. The enemy was still defiant not realising that he had been defeated at will, on my terms, without hesitating I pumped a few rounds into him, killing him. After that I tried to drag the enemy's body to the road, even before I reached the road, Sgt Mileng, Cpl Dajai, LCpl John, Rgr Rimau and Rgr Balau were coming towards me. I asked Sgt Mileng permission to chop off the head of the enemy, I killed. Sgt Mileng told me that I was not allowed to do so. He also said, "Well done." I felt happy and proud that I did not let down my team.Continued here...
Today's issue is not about the Military, it's about our Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalanraya. It's about "RED TAPE". I wanted to get a refund for the road tax I paid for my 1.6 cc car. The refund would be approximately RM126.50. I took an off day on Monday to get this done. I went to JPJ, Ipoh. I went to the counters pertaining to road tax renewals as there were no signages of any kind pertaining to refunds. There was a long queue. I decided to ask one of the security guards whether this was the place to get it done. He replied to me that it was upstairs of the JPJ "Ixora" building at counter 24.
I went upstairs, there were no queue numbers available, a notice saying that the automated number rendering machine was out of order. Fine, I joined the queue, good for me. The queue was long, out of 14 counters only N0.24 was opened to cater for refunds. I reached the counter quite easily and fast. Then the problem started. First to get the reclaim form you have to show your car registration card. The person will, only then give you the form.
All the requirements are not made known, except when you reach the counter where there is a A4 sized paper with the requirements pasted on the glass pane. Which states that, one has to provide :
1. Perakuan Pendaftaran (JPJ K2) asal and a photocopy. 2. Panel L LKM/Keratan Resit LKM 3.Borang permohonan Bagi Bayaran Balik (Lampiran A) 4. Borang JPK K6 5. Salinan KP Pembawa, dokumen yang disahkan.(No need for verification if you doing it for yourself)
After getting the Borang permohonan Bagi Bayaran Balik (Lampiran A) and Borang JPK K6, one has to photostat the JPJ K2 and your IC. If you have the misfortune of doing it for your wife or someone else, you have to get your IC stamped for verification, maybe at the nearest Police Station, if you have one near. Most of the people in the queue did not know about this.
Once the forms are filled you have to re-queue again to submit them. After which you have to wait a week to collect back your original registration card. An acknowledgement receipt is given, with no official stamp with the letters JPJ or anything official.You only get a receipt with the name of the offficer who received your registration card. It is not even official looking, I doubt it would it be valid in a court of law.
I have to give credit to the person at counter 24 for her patience, Cik Rosnah Roskan . She was the one in the line of fire. She made it bearable when everything else sucks.I have to take another day off to collect back my registration card. Yes, the money will only be given, hopefully within 3 months. This is the "MOTHER OF ALL RED TAPES", by the JPJ. I want everyone to know this so that you are prepared for the heart ache(sakit hati).
Continued from here....We started moving without anymore distrations.The day was getting dark, we were hungry, tired and angry, meaning short tempered. I was very exhausted. As it was getting dark, I advised all my boys to be ready with the night vision goggles, night vision binoculars and night vision sights for the M16's, including laser sights to be attached to the rifles for night fighting.
All the food we escorted was from the USA. We risked our lives to move this grain without being hijacked by Somali gunmen. Whenever we stopped on the way to Baidoa, we were asked whether we were from the US, this was due to the similarities of our flags which we wore as a shoulder patch. We always replied that we were from Malaysia. They would reply, "good, America bad", the irony of that was that the Americans were the ones who were the major contributors towards the well being of the Somalis. Notice bags of grain marked with the letters USA.
I instructed the vehicle commanders to keep the convoy tight as it was getting dark. Asked Othman to do radio checks to ensure that all communications were in good working order. Continued here....
On the 16th September 1963 I was 9 years old, when Malaysia was declared.There were decorations and arcs to the main entrance on the estate I lived on. Everywhere flags were flown. We must remember Malaysia Day. The following day after the declaration of Malaysia Day, a war was declared upon us, the "Ganyang Malaysia" campaign. My eldest brother when he heard of the "Ganyang Malaysia" cry from the Indonesians, joined the army, becoming a member of the 2nd Reconnaissance Regiment. A start of many nights of tears and worries for my dear mum but pride in me.My brother was the hero in many of my tales in school, in my class no one could brag like I could, none had a brother in the army to fight the Indonesians. Many others too joined up. Many came to our aid, the British, Australians and the New Zealanders, the Singaporeans were with us too. Today we could have been like East Timur, Acheh or hear the ongoing tramp of Indonesian boots in Papua New Guinea. They prevented that from happening !
Many have died, Malaysians, Singaporeans, British, Aussies and the Kiwis. No one bestows any honour on our fallen to commemorate CONFRONTATION, Malaysia Day is synonymous with that word, Confrontation, to me. Somewhere along our Malaysian journey there seem's to be a deliberately planted amnesia. Today I will honour Malaysia Day, for my brother, my wife's uncle, their comrades, their comrades brothers like me, their sisters like mine, their mums like mine, their proud dads who stifled their fear in allowing their sons to serve as they were too old to serve, like mine, our southern neighbours, the S'poreans, Poms, Aussies and the Kiwis today.This war was an unprovoked war against a very young nation. Do not forget, nations that do not remember their own dead and that of their allies, is denying the sacrifices of their fighting men. No doubt today is Armed Forces Day. Mentioning Malaysia Day and Confrontation in one breath would at least honour our fallen. Remember the song, "Malaysia Berjaya", that was the commemorative song.
Continued from Highway Robbery...After the shooting up and spoiling the Somali Bandits ambush, we continued on our way.They must be one heck of a disappointed Somali Bandits, they might have been thinking, like it it was as easy as taking sweets from kids, as in the case of the Italians and the Bangladeshis. The rest of the soldiers and Othman were not fully in the picture as to what exactly happened. Never mind tonight, if and when we reached Baidoa, the story will be told over beers, lots of beers. The map on the right is the map of the 'Horn of Africa' otherwise known as Somalia. Click on the pic to enlarge it. The towns and regions are clearly shown. The routes shown are the routes taken during the World Food Program run. The starting and the ending of each run begins in Mogadishu.Continued here....
This is an article by my former instructor when I was a cadet, in Officer Cadet School to the New straits Times. I AM glad that the Government has finally recognised Awang anak Raweng’s contribution to the nation (NST, Aug 30). The George Cross, awarded by the British Government for his bravery while serving as a tracker with a British battalion during the Emergency, is second only to the Victoria Cross. However, the George Cross is only given to civilians for acts of valour during war.So, why was Awang awarded the George Cross and not the Victoria Cross although he was a tracker attached to a regular British battalion on operation in the terrorist-infested jungles of Kluang? Continued here.....
