Sunday, May 20, 2012

The monument of RI Seulawah

The monument was erected to commemorate Indonesia's Independence in 1945. At this time however, the Dutch intended to re-occupy the country. In the ensuing struggle in 1949, the Republic Indonesia desperately needed aircraft to reach the enemy strongholds as many areas had already fallen into their hands.

The President of Indonesia at this time, Soekarno urgently requested the people of Aceh to donate money towards the purchase of an aircraft. A douglas DC-3 was bought not long afterwards with Acehnese gold. This first aircraft was the precursor of the Garuda Indonesia fleet, which nowadays is the largest airline company in Indonesia as well as a flag carrier of the country.