Ahmad Yani.

Ahmad Yani

    General Ahmad Yani was  the commander of the Indonesia army. He was born in Purworejo, Central Java on 19 June 1922. In 1943, he joined the Japanese sponsored Peta army, and underwent further training in Magelang as an artillery officer. After completing this training, Yani enlisted to be trained as a Peta platoon commander and was transferred to Bogor, West Java to receive his training. Upon completion, he was sent back to Magelang as an instructor.
     After Independence Yani joined the army of the fledgling republic and fought against the Dutch. During the first months after the Declaration of Independence, Yani formed a battalion with himself as Commander and led it to victory against the British at Magelang.Yani then followed this up by successfully defending Magelang against the Dutch when it tried to take over the city, earning him the nickname of the "Savior of Magelang". Another notable highlight of Yani's career during this time period was the series of guerilla offensives he launched in early 1949 to distract the Dutch whilst Lieutenant Colonel Suharto prepared for 1 March General Offensive which was to be directed at Yogyakarta.
     In the early hours of 1 October 1965, the 30 September Movement attempted to kidnap seven members of the Army general staff. A squad of about 200 men surrounded Yani's home at Latuhahary Street No. 6 in the Jakarta suburb of Menteng. Usually Yani had eleven troops guarding his home. His wife later reported that a week before an additional six men were assigned to him. These men were from the command of Colonel Latief, who unknown to Yani, was one of the main plotters in 30 September Movement. According to Yani's wife, the additional men did not appear for duty on that night. Yani and his children were asleep in his house while his wife was out celebrating her birthday by staying out with a group of friends and relatives. She later recounted that as she drove away from the home at about 11 pm, she noticed someone sitting in the shadows across the street as if keeping the house under observation. She thought nothing of it at the time, but following the events later that morning she wondered differently. Also, from about 9 pm on the evening of 30 September a number of phone calls were made to the house at intervals, which when answered would be met with silence or a voice would ask what time it was. The calls continued until about 1 am and Mrs Yani said she had a premonition something was wrong that night.
     When the kidnappers came to Yani's home and told him that he was to be brought before the president, he asked for time to bathe and change his clothes. When this was refused he became angry, slapped one of the kidnapper soldiers, and tried to shut the front door of his house. One of the kidnappers then opened fire, killing the general. His body was taken to Lubang Buaya on the outskirts of Jakarta and, together with those of the other murdered generals, was hidden in a disused well.

Yani's body, and those of the other victims, was disinterred on 4 October, and all were given a state funeral the next day, before being buried at the Hero's Cemetery at Kalibata. On the same day, Yani and his colleagues were officially declared Heroes of the Revolution by Presidential Decision No. 111/KOTI/1965 and his rank was raised posthumously from lieutenant general to a 4-star general