Saw Ba Yi ( my, စောဘရီ ) is an ethnic Karen and the only

civilian Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not " combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatan ...

to have won the

Aung San Thuriya This article considers the religious, military and civil orders, decorations and medals of Union of Myanmar. Religious honorary orders Before and after Myanmar's independence, governments presented two religious orders, Abhidhaja Maha Rathta ...

Medal, the highest award for gallantry and bravery in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

(Myanmar) in 1951. Under normal circumstances, the medal is only awarded to members of the

Myanmar Armed Forces Tatmadaw (, , ) is the official name of the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include the ...

Service to the country

Saw Ba Yi volunteered in saving a group of government officials sieged by KNDO rebels in

Thandaung Thandaung ( Phlone ; my, သံတောင်မြို့) is a small resort town in the Kayin State of south Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ e ...

in 1951. Though his acts of valour and self-sacrifice preserved the lives of hostages, he was killed in action. He was honoured and awarded the medal posthumously by the

President of Burma The president of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar () is the head of state and constitutional head of government of Myanmar. The president leads the Cabinet of Myanmar, the executive branch of the Burmese government. The current preside ...

then.

Commemorations

* Aung San Thuriya Saw Ba Yi Street in downtown

Yangon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

is named in his honour.

References

Burmese people of Karen descent 1951 deaths {{Myanmar-bio-stub