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 is a popular English Restoration period saying that goes “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”.
In a different context, my story is about a Sarawak housewife who challenged two dozen armed terrorists who shot and fatally wounded her husband 57 years ago.
In the hour-long incident courageous Kathrine anak Ningkan held back her anger until assassins used a machine gun on her family “execution style”.
On June 27 1965 an elite guerrilla unit called Resimen Para Komando Angkatan Darat (RPKAD), launched a killing spree along the Kuching-Serian Road.
Infiltrating Sarawak by a “Jalan tikus” jungle track, 30 Indonesian commandos were on a mission was to assassinate the chief minister of Sarawak Stephen Kalong Ningkan.
But the plan to “kidnap or kill” the chief Minister failed following a premonition, a dream and visit of a black King Cobra.
According to the chief minister’s daughter Diana, the visit was called off as her grandfather Ningkan anak Igam had a “jai mimpi” or bad dream.
Days earlier Sgt Ningkan killed a cobra that entered his quarters, an act the Iban considered “mali” or taboo, as the snake is depicted as “Keling” --the mythology god of war.
Kathrine’s son Louis who was six-years-old at that time, said that three days before the attack a large cobra slithering into their quarters and reported it to his father.
