Pierre Tendean: The Young Hero of the G30S Incident

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Among the seven officers who became victims of the September 30 Movement, known as G30S, in Jakarta in 1965, one was not a senior officer. He was First Lieutenant Pierre Andreas Tendean, the aide-de-camp to General A.H. Nasution, who was 26 years old at the time. Pierre was later declared a Revolutionary Hero and posthumously promoted to the rank of Captain.

Pierre Tendean was born in Jakarta on 21 February 1939. He was the second of three children of Dr. A.L. Tendean and Maria Elizabeth Cornet. His father was a doctor of Minahasan descent, while his mother had French-Dutch ancestry. From an early age, Pierre dreamed of becoming a soldier, although his parents hoped he would follow in his father’s footsteps and become a doctor.

In 1958, Pierre was admitted to the National Military Academy and went on to study military engineering. After graduating in 1962, he was assigned as a platoon commander with the 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion under Kodam II/Bukit Barisan in Medan, North Sumatra. He also attended intelligence training in Bogor before serving with the Army Central Intelligence Service. During the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, he was tasked with leading a group of volunteers on an infiltration mission into Malaysia.

Pierre’s military career entered a new phase in April 1965. He was promoted to First Lieutenant and appointed as General A.H. Nasution’s aide-de-camp. In carrying out his duties, Pierre lived at Nasution’s residence on Jalan Teuku Umar in Jakarta and became part of the general’s household.

In the early hours of 1 October 1965, an armed group arrived at A.H. Nasution’s residence. Nasution managed to escape from the house, while Pierre, who was staying in the rear quarters of the residence, confronted the group searching for Nasution. According to accounts recorded in various sources, Pierre identified himself as Nasution. The statement, known as “I am Nasution,” led the group to capture Pierre, believing that he was A.H. Nasution.

Pierre was then taken to the Lubang Buaya area in East Jakarta. He was killed along with six other Army officers, and his body was found in a well in the area on 4 October 1965. The seven officers were later buried at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery in Jakarta on 5 October 1965.

Outside of his military life, Pierre also had personal plans that were never fulfilled. He was in a relationship with Rukmini Chaimin, a woman from Medan whom he met while serving in the city. The two later maintained a long-distance relationship and planned to marry in November 1965.

To prepare for their wedding, several sources reported that Pierre worked part-time as a tractor operator at night on a project to develop the area around the National Monument, or Monas. Their wedding plans were never realized after Pierre died on 1 October 1965. On 5 October 1965, he was awarded the title of Revolutionary Hero and posthumously promoted to the rank of Captain.