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."
Malaysian professional arms has its roots in the 1971 death of Capt. V.M. Chandran SP by MGG Pillai Sunday, June 13, 2004, 08:03 pm
Friday, August 10, 2018
This is the late Mr MGG Pillai'sversion on the death of Captain Mohana Chandran. THIRTEENTH OF JUNE 1971. What happened 33 years ago on this day is
remembered by a negligible few, in the armed forces, in the 4 Renjer
Bn, even in its C Company.
I asked several retired and serving
officers about it. A few of the former officers remembered. One asked
his colleagues at the time by email and SMS if they could remember
what happened on that. None could. But at least 4 Renjer (or Rangers,
in English) and its C Company should have.
On that day the commanding
officer of C Company, Capt. V. 'Ray' Mohanachandran SP, died in an
ambush on a well-fortified and bunkered Communist Party of Malaya base
in Tanjong Rambutan, Perak, on the periphery of a Police Field Force
camp, that earned him the Malaysian equivalent of the Victoria Cross.
That he died gallantly, leading his men from the front into battle, is
now undisputed, although the rush to blame him was relentless at the
time.
There was still the fairness and professionalism then that now
seems lacking, and the blame was laid not on him, as his seniors would
have liked, but on the seniors themselves. The Intelligence Officer or
IO of 2 Bde, who ordered Capt. Chandran by radio to attack the camp,
had kept a detailed log book and which contained the operational
blunders at battalion, brigade and division headquarters, was sent
inexplicably on leave. When he returned, his log book went missing.
