The Jakarta Post
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsNew monument in Papua honors late military chief L.B. Moerdani
One of Moerdani's most notable roles was linked to Papua in 1962, when he led a parachute operation in Merauke as Indonesia sought to take control of West Irian from Dutch troops. The operation has been commemorated by the Merauke statue, which depicts him holding a rifle and wearing a parachute.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Set as preferred source
Soldiers of the Indonesian Military's (TNI) 613th Infantry Battalion/Raja Alam chant during a homecoming ceremony on July 22 at Semayang Port in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, after returning from a 12-month border security deployment along the Indonesia–Papua New Guinea frontier. A total of 450 personnel took part in the mission. (Antara/Angga Palguna)
A
new monument honoring late general Leonardus Benjamin “Benny” Moerdani has been inaugurated at the headquarters of the Joint Defense Regional Command III (Kogabwilhan III) in Mile 32, Timika, Central Papua, commemorating the former Indonesian Military (TNI) commander and defense minister.
Col. Cahyo Riyono of the Air Force’s education and training command said the monument had been built within Kogabwilhan III’s area of responsibility, which covers eastern Indonesia, including Maluku and Papua.
“It has been inaugurated. [It is a monument] to the service of the TNI general,” Cahyo told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
The monument marked an addition to an existing statue of Moerdani in Tanah Miring district, Merauke regency, South Papua. An inscription on the statue says it was presented by the regency administration in 1989.
Born in Cepu, Blora regency, Central Java, on Oct. 2, 1932, Moerdani completed military education before rising through the ranks of the Army’s special forces in the 1950s, actively taking part in suppressing revolutionary groups across Indonesia.
One of his most notable roles was linked to Papua in 1962, when he led a parachute operation in Merauke as Indonesia sought to take control of West Irian from Dutch troops. The operation was later commemorated by the Merauke statue, which depicts him holding a rifle and wearing a parachute.
