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."
Attack On An Enemy Camp - 2Lt Kassim Abdul Kadir PGB & Ranger Mereng ak Imang PGB
Friday, December 09, 2005
Lt Col Kassim Abdul Kadir was my instructor in Officer Cadet School, he was an excellent instructor, along with another person who frequently comments on my blog, Lt Col Fatholzaman Bukhari. This blog today is for the late, Lt Col Kassim Abdul Kadir. I want to tell the story of this warrior, who is no more around. I was one of the few who were honoured, to be trained by him. 2Lt Kassim found out that the enemy was at the bottom of a very steep incline, which where the drop was around 20 feet. The easiest approach to the enemy’s location was to swing the attack to the left or to the right of the hill.
Left : A Sten Gun, one of the dead enemy's weapon.
This course of action would take up too much time. He did not have much of a choice to close up with the enemy. He had to launch the attack from the top, down the steep incline. If he looked for alternative routes the enemy would use this window period to escape from them.
He calmly and with resolute confidence in his men gave his quick attack orders. He told his men to roll down the incline to launch the assault on the enemy. Right : Another captured Enemy weapon- A Thompson.
The situation being very difficult. Only 2Lt Kassim managed to roll down to where Ranger Mereng was. Ranger Mereng was carrying an HBSLR. Two of them were successfully positioned at the fringe of the enemy camp, 10 yards away from the perimeter of the enemy camp and the forward enemy trenches.
Left : A British Army Manual on the conduct of an attack on a Communist Terrorist Camp. That's exactly what 2Lt Kassim did, not exactly the classic textbook attack but it did suffice.Click on the image to enlarge.
They were greeted with heavy enemy fire from the Eight Communist Terrorists. He directed Ranger Mereng to move to the right and engage the enemy from this new position. Rgr Mereng did as he was ordered, he crawled to his new position and opened up with his heavy barrel self loading rifle.
Right : "The "Kepujian Perutusan Keberanian" (Mentioned in Despatches)
Some of the enemy was taking cover behind stacked logs. The cover for 2Lt Kassim and Rgr Mereng was very limited, that is no cover at all. Ammunition too was limited, Kassim had only 8 magazines with 20 rounds each and Rgr Mereng had 12 magazines with 30 rounds each. The intensity of the enemy fire made them feel very vulnerable. At that moment being in a very tight situation, the group that was left behind opened up with the GPMG (Mag 58) to the rear of the enemy camp, confusing the enemy. This also prevented the enemy from abandoning their position. Continued here....
