Sarwo Edhie Wibowo Sarwo Edhie Wibowo ( born in Purworejo , Central Java , Indonesia on July 25 , 1925 - died in Jakarta , Indonesia on November 9 , 1989 at the age of 64 years ) is an Indonesian military leader and the father of Kristiani Herrawati , lady RI and the RI president ' s wife , Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and also the father of Chief of Staff Pramono Edhie Wibowo . His role is very large while crushing rebellion G - 30 PKI in his position as commander of the Special Forces ( or Special Forces at the moment ) . In addition he also served as Chairman of the BP - 7 center , the ambassador at South Korea as well as Governor academy . Early life . Sarwo Edhie was born in Purworejo , Central Java to a family of civil servants working for the Dutch Colonial Government . As a child , he learned silat as a form of self - defense . As he grew up , Sarwo Edhie formed an admiration for the Japanese Army and their victories against the Allied Forces stationed in the Pacific and Asia . In 1942 , when the Japanese took control of Indonesia , Sarwo Edhie went to Surabaya to enlist with Defenders of the Motherland Army ( PETA ) , which was a Japanese - run auxiliary force consisting of Indonesian soldiers . Sarwo Edhie was disappointed as his duties during this period were mostly to cut the lawn , clean the toilets , and make the beds of the Japanese officers . When he did train , all Sarwo Edhie got to use was wooden weapons . After the Indonesian Declaration of Independence on August 17 , 1945 , Sarwo Edhie joined the BKR , a militia organization who would become the precursor of ABRI ( the present Indonesian Army ) and formed a battalion . However , the venture failed and the battalion disbanded . It was his hometown compatriot , Ahmad Yani who encouraged him to continue being a soldier and invited him to join a Battalion at Magelang in Central Java . Military career . Career Up to 1965 . Sarwo Edhie ' s career in ABRI saw him serve as Battalion Commander in the Diponegoro Division ( 1945 – 1951 ) , Regiment Commander in the Diponegoro Division ( 1951 – 1953 ) , Deputy Regiment Commander in the National Military Academy ( 1959 – 1961 ) , Chief of Staff of the Army Paracommando Regiment ( RPKAD ) ( 1962 – 1964 ) , and Commander of RPKAD ( 1964 – 1967 ) . The RPKAD was Indonesia ' s attempt at creating a special forces unit ( It would go on to become Kopassus ) and Sarwo Edhie ' s appointment as the elite unit ' s Commander was thanks in no small part to Yani . By 1964 , Yani had risen to become the Army Commander and wanted someone who he could trust as Commander of RPKAD . Putting Down The G30S Movement . It was during Sarwo Edhie ' s time as RPKAD Commander that the 30 September Movement happened . During the morning of October 1 , 1965 , six Generals , including Ahmad Yani were kidnapped from their houses and taken to the Air Force ' s Halim Airbase . Whilst this kidnapping process was being executed , a group of unidentified troops occupied the National Monument ( Monas ) , the Presidential Palace , the Republic of Indonesia Radio ( RRI ) , and the telecommunications building . The day started normally enough for Sarwo Edhie and his RPKAD troops and they spent their morning at the RPKAD headquarters at Cijantung in Jakarta . Then Colonel Herman Sarens Sudiro arrived . Sudiro announced that he was bringing message from the Kostrad headquarters and informed Sarwo Edhie of the situation in Jakarta . Sarwo Edhie was also informed by Sudiro that Major General Suharto , the Commander of Kostrad had for the moment assumed leadership of the Army . After giving it much thought , Sarwo Edhie sent Sudiro back with the message that he will side with Suharto . Once Sudiro left , Sarwo Edhie was visited by Brigadier General Sabur , the Commander of the Cakrabirawa ( Presidential Bodyguards ) , of which G30S member Lieutenant Colonel Untung belonged to . Sabur asked Sarwo Edhie to join the G30S Movement . Sarwo Edhie told Sabur flat out that he was going to side with Suharto . At 11 AM that day , Sarwo Edhie arrived at the Kostrad headquarters and received orders to retake the RRI and Telecommunication buildings at 6 PM ( The deadline by which the unidentified troops were expected to surrender ) . When 6 PM arrived , Sarwo Edhie ordered his troops to retake the designated buildings . This was achieved without much resistance , as the troops there retreated to Halim and the buildings were taken by 6 . 30 PM . With the situation at Jakarta secured , Suharto turned his eyes to Halim Air Base . The Air Base was the place which the kidnapped Generals were taken to and the base of the Air Force which had thrown its support behind the G30S movement . Suharto then ordered Sarwo Edhie to retake the Air Base . Starting their attack at 2 AM on 2 October , Sarwo Edhie and the RPKAD had the Air Base taken by 6 AM . Transition from Old Order to New Order . After taking Halim Air Base , Sarwo Edhie joined Suharto as both of them were summoned to Bogor by President Sukarno . While Suharto found himself admonished by Sukarno for ignoring his orders , Sarwo Edhie found himself shocked by Sukarno ' s insensitivity to the death of the six Generals . To his question of " Where are the Generals ? " , Sukarno responded " Aren ' t these things a normality in a revolution ? " . On 4 October 1965 , Sarwo Edhie ' s troops would preside over the exhumation of the dead bodies of the Generals from the Lubang Buaya well . On 16 October 1965 , Suharto was appointed Commander of the Army by Sukarno . By then , the Communist Party of Indonesia ( PKI ) had been accused as the culprits of the G30S and anti - Communist sentiments had build up sufficiently to gain momentum . Sarwo Edhie was given the task of eliminating PKI members in the Communist hotbeds in Central Java . This would result in the infamous mass - killings in October – December 1965 across Java , Bali , and parts of Sumatra . There were numerous estimates as to the number of people killed during these months . Early estimates number between half a million at the very least and a million at the most . In December 1965 , the number given to Sukarno was 78 , 000 although after he fell , it was revised to 780 , 000 . The 78 , 000 was a ploy to hide the number of people killed from Sukarno . Speculations continued throughout the years , ranging from 60 , 000 to 1 , 000 , 000 . Although the consensus seemed to have settled around 400 , 000 . Finally , in 1989 , before his death , Sarwo Edhie admitted to People ' s Representative Council ( DPR ) member that 3 million were killed in the bloodbath . By the beginning of 1966 , anti - Communist sentiments combined with the high rate of inflation caused Sukarno to begin losing his popularity in the eyes of the People . There were now anti - Sukarno protests , led by youth movements such as the Indonesian Student Action Front ( KAMI ) . On 10 January 1966 , KAMI issued three demands to Sukarno . They wanted PKI to be banned , for PKI sympathizers within the Cabinet to be arrested , and for the prices to be lowered . Suharto realized the importance in aligning the Army with the protesters . During the first months of 1966 , Sarwo Edhie together with Kostrad Chief of Staff , Kemal Idris actively organized and supported the protests whilst making a name for themselves among the KAMI protesters in the process . On 26 February 1966 , KAMI was officially banned by Sukarno but with the encouragement of Sarwo Edhie and Kemal continued to protest . In a show of solidarity with the students , Sarwo Edhie enlisted at the University of Indonesia . Although he was growing to be Sukarno ' s biggest political opponent , Suharto , a strong Javanese traditionalist , was always careful to avoid challenging Sukarno directly . By March 1966 however , he was ready to force Sukarno ' s hand . At the beginning of the month , he ordered the RPKAD to arrest PKI sympathizers within Sukarno ' s Cabinet . Suharto changed his mind at the very last minute , thinking that Sukarno ' s security might be compromised . However , it was too late to withdraw the orders . On the morning of 11 March 1966 , during a Cabinet meeting in which Suharto was absent , Sarwo Edhie and his troops surrounded the Presidential Palace without any identification . Sukarno , fearing for his life evacuated to Bogor . Later in the day he would transfer executive powers to Suharto through a letter called Supersemar . In 1967 , Sarwo Edhie was transferred to Sumatra and was made Commander of KODAM II / Bukit Barisan . In Sumatra , Sarwo Edhie further weakened Sukarno ' s powers by banning his Indonesian National Party ( PNI ) throughout the island . New Order radical . Sarwo Edhie ' s support was firmly with Suharto as the latter began making the moves to ascend to the Presidency . Factionally speaking however , Sarwo Edhie belonged to a faction dubbed by scholars as " New Order Radicals " . Together with Kemal Idris and Kodam VI / Siliwangi Commander Hartono Rekso Dharsono , Sarwo Edhie wanted political parties to be dismantled and replaced with non - ideological groups which emphasized development and modernization . " Act of Free Choice " . For this , Sarwo Edhie was transferred to West Irian to become the Commander of KODAM XVII / Cendrawasih . In the lead up to the " Act of Free Choice " , through which Indonesia annexed the territory without holding a full referendum , Sarwo Edhie played a leading role in crushing Papuan resistance Exclusion from Government and remaining career . Like many who had supported Suharto to power , Sarwo Edhie grew increasingly dissatisfied with the new President . As the years went on , Suharto began to exclude supporters like Sarwo Edhie from the running of Indonesia , preferring instead to take the advice of colleagues who had gone up the ranks with him such as Ali Murtopo . Being a New Order radical also did not help Sarwo Edhie ' s case and like Kemal and Dharsono , Suharto grew suspicious of him . The final straw came in 1970 , when Sarwo Edhie brought up the issue of Government corruption in 1970 . From that point on , Sarwo Edhie was given positions that still held stature but kept him away from the politics of the Central Government in Jakarta . Sarwo Edhie then served as ABRI Academy ( AKABRI ) Governor ( 1970 – 1973 ) , Indonesian Ambassador to South Korea ( 1973 – 1978 ) , and Inspector General of the Department of Foreign Affairs ( 1978 – 1983 ) . When Suharto established Pancasila as the National Ideology in 1984 , Sarwo Edhie was put in charge of the indoctrination process by being appointed Chairman of the Supervisory Body for Implementation of Guidance for Comprehension and Practice of Pancasila ( BP - 7 ) He was elected to the People ' s Representative Council ( DPR ) in 1987 and resigned his position in 1988 in protest of Sudharmono ' s nomination to the Vice Presidency . Death . Sarwo Edhie died on 9 November 1989 Family . Sarwo Edhie was married to Sunarti Sri Hadiyah , with whom he had seven children : Wijiasih Cahyasasi , Wrahasti Cendrawasih , Kristiani Herrawati , Mastuti Rahayu , Pramono Edhie Wibowo , Retno Cahyaningtyas and Hartanto Edhie Wibowo . Miscellaneous . President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is his son - in - law ; Yudhoyono is married to Sarwo Edhie ' s daughter Kristiani " Ani " Herawati . Sarwo Edhie was the Chairman of Taekwondo Indonesia . Sarwo Edhie listed Douglas MacArthur and Erwin Rommel as persons that he admired . Hobbies included watching epic movies and wayang as well as collecting keris .