Frederik Ferdinand "Fred" Ormskerk (26 April 1923 – 1 May 1980) was a

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

se military leader. He was awarded many honors for his military services in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

. After a

KNIL The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (; KNIL, ; ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its Dutch colonial empire, colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. The KNIL's air arm ...

training at Camp Casino, Australia, he arrived in Batavia (now

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

). There, he became a soldier in the newly formed Korps Speciale Troepen (KST), led by Captain Westerling. He was nicknamed ''Bikkel'', which means "stud". In February 1980, the

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

led by

Dési Bouterse Desiré Delano Bouterse (; 13 October 1945 – 23 December 2024De Ware Tijd‘Bouterse maandagavond overleden’ 27 december 2024 StarnieuwsAmbassades tekenen condoleanceregister in Ocer 27 december 2024 ) was a Surinamese military officer, poli ...

took place in Suriname. Ormskerk allegedly launched a failed counter-coup on April 30 and afterwards was arrested, tortured and killed.

Awards

* Cross for Law and Liberty with Buckle Korea 1950 * United Nations Service Medal with Clasp Korea * Award of the Korean War Service Medal * Korean Presidential Unit Citation * Certificate of Appreciation 38th Infantry Regiment in Korea * Medal of honor attached to the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

in gold with Swords * Gold Medal due Prolonged, Honest and Faithful Service

References

1923 births 1980 deaths People from Nickerie District Surinamese military personnel Royal Netherlands East Indies Army personnel Military personnel of the Korean War Assassinated Surinamese people People murdered in Suriname {{SouthAm-mil-bio-stub