Lieutenant Colonel I Gusti Ngurah Rai : Indonesian National Hero
I Gusti Ngurah Rai Lieutenant Colonel I Gusti Ngurah Rai is an Indonesian National Hero who commanded Indonesian forces in Bali against the Dutch during the Indonesian War of Independence. He was killed in the Battle of Margarana. Ngurah Rai was born in Carangsari, Badung Regency, Bali on 30 January 1917. He studied at a Dutch elementary school, then went to high school in Malang, East Java. He then received Dutch military training at the Military Cadet School in Gianyar, Bali and Magelang, Central Java. After graduating, he joined the Dutch-sponsored military as a 2nd lieutenant in Bali. After the Indonesian Declaration of Independence. he established the People's Security Army, the forerunner of the Military of Indonesia for the Lesser Sunda Islands. He then left for the republican capital, Yogyakarta to receive orders before returning to Bali to oppose the approximately 2,000 Dutch troops who had landed on 2 and 3 March 1946. Ngurah Rai found that the republican forces were ...