Message from the Supreme Commander

Sarwo Edhie Wibowo's appearance at the Satya Wacana Christian University campus in Salatiga, Central Java, has stayed in Pradjarta Dirdjosanjoto's memory. The commander had come to wipe out the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in Central Java and Yogyakarta.

Pradjarta, then a freshman studying law at the university, remembers that the commander of the Army's Para Commando Regiment (RPKAD) arrived around the end of October 1965. When Sarwo arrived, his troops were giving out forms to students so that the latter could be roped in for compulsory military service. "Some friends and I took the forms and signed up," said Pradjarta, who was then an active member of the Indonesian Christian Youth Movement.

October 6, 2015