Alexander Evert Kawilarang

Alex Evert Kawilarang
Alex Kawilarang circa 1950
Born	(1920-02-23)February 23, 1920 Batavia, Dutch East Indies
Died	June 6, 2000(2000-06-06) (aged 80) Jakarta, Indonesia
Allegiance	Indonesia Permesta
Years of service	1945–1961
Rank	Colonel (TNI) Commander (Permesta)
Unit	KNIL (1941-1942) T & T III Siliwangi (1946-1948 & 1951-1956) T & T I Bukit Barisan (1948-1950) T & T VII Wirabuana (1950-1951) Permesta (1958-1961)
Commands held	T & T I Bukit Barisan (TNI) T & T III Siliwangi (TNI) T & T VII Wirabuana (TNI) Permesta

Alexander Evert Kawilarang (23 February 1920 – 6 June 2000) was an Indonesian freedom fighter, military commander, and founder of Kesko TT, what would become the Indonesian special forces unit Kopassus. However, in 1958 he resigned his post as military attaché to the United States to join the separatist Permesta movement where he encountered Kopassus as his opponent. His involvement in Permesta damaged his promising military career, but he remained popular and active in the armed forces community.

Kawilarang was born in Meester Cornelis (now Jatinegara) on 23 February 1920. His father, Alexander Herman Hermanus Kawilarang, was a major in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL or Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger). His mother was Nelly Betsy Mogot.. Both parents were from the Minahasa region in North Sulawesi.

Kawilarang enjoyed comprehensive European education-style that included attending the Dutch secondary school (HBS or Hogere burgerschool ()) in Bandung. Around 1940, he attended the Dutch military academy or Koninklijke Militaire Academie that was moved to Bandung, because of the German occupation of the Netherlands. His classmates included A. H. Nasution and T. B. Simatupang. After graduating from the academy, he was stationed in Magelang as platoon commander and assigned back to Bandung as an instructor.

During the Japanese occupation, Manadonese, Ambonese, and Indo people were often randomly arrested during raids due to their perceived closeness to the Dutch. Many were severely tortured by the Kempeitai. Kawilarang was tortured several times by the Japanese in 1943 and 1944. He survived, but suffered lifelong disability in his right arm and numerous scars. Kawilarang recalls: "Someone in the warung [food stall] said: 'Japan will grant the Indonesian people its freedom.' I could not ascribe any sense at all to such small talk. Impossible! That was my opinion. But I remained silent. I didn't feel much for more torture ... A news paper wrote: 'Japan is an old friend.' Lies! I thought. Kawilarang slowly developed an appreciation for the rhetoric of the charismatic Indonesian nationalist Sukarno and became strongly convinced that the time for an independent Indonesian state had arrived.