21 Facts About Try Sutrisno

Try Sutrisno was born on 15 November 1935 in Surabaya, Dutch East Indies.

Try Sutrisno's father, Subandi, was an ambulance driver, and his mother, Mardiyah, was a housewife.

At age 13, Try Sutrisno wanted to join the Poncowati Battalion and fight, but no one took him seriously, and he ended up being employed as a courier.

Try Sutrisno's duty was to find information on areas occupied by the Dutch Army as well as retrieving medicine for the Indonesian Army.

Try Sutrisno passed an entrance examination but then failed the physical examination.

Try Sutrisno participated in a psychological examination in Bandung, West Java, and was then accepted into the as a cadet.

Try Sutrisno completed his military education in 1959, when he graduated from ATEKAD and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Indonesian Army.

In 1972, Try Sutrisno was sent to the Army Staff College.

In 1974, Try Sutrisno was chosen to be President Suharto's adjutant.

Try Sutrisno even participated in an environmental campaign to return Sumatran elephants to their natural habitats.

Try Sutrisno finally reached the pinnacle of his Military career in 1988, when he was appointed ABRI Commander to replace Moerdani.

In 1989, there was the Talangsari incident, in which Try Sutrisno repeated his actions in 1984 by cracking down on Islamist protesters.

Try Sutrisno was then invited to speak before the People's Representative Council to explain himself.

Try Sutrisno gave a defense of his decision and maintained that the protesters were provoking the soldiers and that claims that the protests were peaceful was "bullshit".

Try Sutrisno was discharged from his position as ABRI Commander in February 1993.

In February 1993, the same month that Try Sutrisno was discharged from his position and a month before the People's Consultative Assembly was due to meet to elect a new president and Vice President, MPR members from ABRI nominated Try Sutrisno to be the vice president.

In 1998, Try Sutrisno was elected to become the Chairman of the ABRI Veterans' Union.

Try Sutrisno successfully kept Pepabri united as one under his Chairmanship despite the prevalent mood at the time that each branch of the Armed Forces gets their own veterans' union.

Try Sutrisno served as Party Elder for General Edi Sudrajat's Justice and Unity Party.

Try Sutrisno somewhat softened his stance with the Government after a meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla in September 2005.

Try Sutrisno is married to Tuti Sutiawati, with whom he has seven children: four sons and three daughters.