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Hero awards given to three noted figures
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday presented three national hero titles to a Navy officer, an engineering professor, and the country’s first foreign affairs minister
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resident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday presented three national hero titles to a Navy officer, an engineering professor, and the country’s first foreign affairs minister.
The three were late Rear Adm. (ret.) Jahja Daniel Dharma, Prof. Herman Johanes and first foreign minister Achmad Subardjo.
The granting of the hero awards was based on recommendations from the Central Heroes Counseling Board and the Indonesian Honorary Medal Council, to coincide with National Heroes Day, which falls on Nov. 10.
The President also granted four kinds of honorary medals to 10 other national figures.
Late Rear Adm. (ret.) Jahja Daniel Dharma, also known as John Lie, was born in Manado in 1911.
He was honored for among others, his role in supplying ammunition and weapons to Indonesian troops.
He transported the arms from Malaysia and Thailand and distributed them to ports in Aceh and along the east coast of Sumatra.
“In carrying out these activities, John Lie and his crew faced dangerous risks. He had to penetrate blockades made by Dutch Navy vessels along the Malacca Straits,” the Social Affairs Ministry said in a book of profiles about the 2009 national heroes.
Prof. Herman Johanes, born in East Nusa Tenggara in 1912, was awarded for his role in helping assemble fire weapons for Indonesian troops using his knowledge in physics and chemistry.
He headed the weaponry laboratory at Indonesia’s military headquarters after the declaration of independence on Aug. 17, 1945.
After the war ended, he spent most of his time teaching at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta, and became the university rector from 1961 to 1966.
Achmad Subardjo, born in the West Java town of Karawang in 1896, left for the Netherlands in 1919 to study law at Leiden University.
During his studies he joined the Indische Vereniging, an Indonesian student organization, and once served as its chairman.
Achmad played an important role in encouraging the founding fathers, Soekarno and Muhammad Hatta, to finally sign and read out the declaration of independence in Jakarta.
He was then appointed as foreign affairs minister from Aug. 17 to Nov. 14, 1945, and for the second time between 1951 and 1952. Achmad died at the age of 82.
John, Herman and Achmad all received Bintang Mahaputra Adipradana medals.
