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."
He wore only an undershirt and khaki shorts, and all that he would say when he wandered into the police station in a tiny village in Johore one day last April was: "I am a terrorist and I want to surrender." The young constable in charge was not overly impressed. All the same, he bundled his unexpected guest into a Land Rover and turned him over to his superiors in Segamat. There, incredulous officials questioned the prisoner for hours on end, laid every kind of verbal trap to see if he really was the man he claimed to be. Sure enough, he was none other than Hor Lung, the leading Communist terrorist in South Malaya, and the last man the government thought would ever surrender.
1960. An identification portrait of a Chinese communist terrorist, possibly Lam Po. This print was one of a series displayed in 28 Brigade Headquarters in the hope that Commonwealth troops might recognise the insurgents when conducting their day to day activities. (Donor J. McDonald) Copyright: clear
A dedicated Communist since 1940, Hor Lung, 52, got his guerrilla training early in World War II at a special British school in Singapore. He commanded the Communists' daringly successful "3rd Independent Force" during the Japanese occupation, after the war turned the regiment against the British. By 1953, he had only one superior among the Communists of the south—a terrorist named Ah Kuk, and known as "Shorty." Shorty's own bodyguards soon took care of that. Learning that there was $66,000 on their master's head, they decided to deliver that head—minus the body—to the police. After that, Hor Lung was in complete command of scores of villages in Johore.
1960. An identification portrait of a Chinese communist terrorist. This print was one of a series displayed in 28 Brigade Headquarters in the hope that Commonwealth troops might recognise the insurgents when conducting their day to day activities. (Donor J. McDonald)
Last year, relentlessly battered by Malayan and Commonwealth troops, Hor Lung began to retreat deeper and deeper into the jungle. He drove his men mercilessly, refused to be stopped by mounting casualties or dwindling food supplies, seemed determined never to be conquered. Then one day he simply wandered away, stripped off his uniform and headed for the police. Fearing that the news of his surrender might somehow imperil their efforts to persuade other terrorists to give up, government officials kept it a secret. Only last week, on the eve of Malaya's first anniversary of independence, did they let the story out.
1960. An identification portrait of a female Chinese communist terrorist. This print was one of a series displayed in 28 Brigade Headquarters in the hope that Commonwealth troops might recognise the insurgents when conducting their day to day activities. (Donor J. McDonald)
The news came as the climax to a year that had seen 695 terrorists killed, captured or cajoled into surrender, leaving only an estimated 600 guerrillas in the jungles after ten years of guerrilla war. In flushing the terrorists out, the government had resorted to an extraordinary tactic. "If money can buy the end of the emergency," said Prime Minister Tengku (Prince) Abdul Rahman last week, "we will buy it. We cannot stick to principles; if we did, Hor Lung should really be hanged." Instead of hangings, the terrorists have the offer of substantial rewards for surrendering, and for going back into the jungle to spot other guerrillas. So far, the government has paid out $165,000 in such rewards, chicken feed beside the peak $87,600,000 that the British spent one year fighting the guerrillas. Even Hor Lung had apparently found a little bribery—rumored to be $50,000—irresistible. "He is." admitted the Prime Minister, "now richer than any of us." The source.
