Volume 52 Issue 04 - April 2014 : Feature
They died for you!
Author : Mothusi Soloko
We bowed our heads down for a two-minute moment of silence. Then President Lt Gen Seretse Khama Ian Khama, followed by former Vice President Lt Gen Mompati Merafhe, stealthily walked past the troops to lay a wreath.
Moments later, a thunderous roar of heavy artillery that even shook the earth under our feet and triggering alarm systems of vehicles parked nearby, broke the still morning air.
The world over, such is the practice whenever a fallen soldier is laid down at their final resting place and in Botswana, the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) calendar has February 27 symbolically marked for some such rituals.
It is Fallen Heroes Day. Its commemoration began in February 2011, primarily to remember the 15 BDF members who were killed in the infamous 1978 Lesoma ambush. That was at the height of the Rhodesian insurgency led by the Ian Smith regime.
Subsequent to the inaugural commemoration, the army decided to also recognise other fallen heroes who met their demise in line of duty in various operations such as Peace Support Operation (Darfur), Inter Regional Deployments, local deployments and those who lost their lives during training.
“The passing on of the fallen heroes should never be in vain hence the theme for this year is “We Shall Never Forget”.
It is therefore upon us as a nation that we should live their legacy and uphold their achievements,” said BDF commander Lt Gen Galebotswe as the roar of heavy artillery went silent at the commemoration of Fallen Heroes Day at Gaborone`s Extension 14 cemetery.
However, by contrast and judging from the stares of passersby, it is clear that memories of those who traded their lives for the safety and security of their country, are slowly fading away. Not many people knew what the soldiers were doing in the cemetery.
Not even families of survivors or survivors themselves turned up in large numbers. Just a handful of ordinary citizens came to witness the men in uniform celebrate their heroes.
One of the survivors was Colonel Benson Sennanyana. Memories of that fateful day are marked by bullet scars on his hands and back.
Although he is regarded by many as a hero, Colonel Sennanyana modestly believes he is far from being a hero. “We may call those who died in defence of this country heroes but there a many other heroes throughout the country who did not become heroes by fighting,” he reckons.
By his own account, heroes are those who put others first and their selves last. “The farmers who have been producing food for the country are heroes, the nurses who cares for the sick everyday make a team of dedicated heroes.
As for me it for the people to tell what they think of me,” he says.
Giving a brief account of how he came so close to death, the scars of which he still bears, he says, had he died it would have been for a worthy cause.
“There is no joy more than the joy to die for one`s country, not just in the army. It will be an honour for a miner to die underground searching for diamonds than for him to die of a car accident,” quips Col Sennanyana. Ends