A Modern Tale of Chivalry

Sado, 54, is an FBR (Free Burma Rangers) leader and a 25-year veteran of the war between the Karen state and the Burma Army. The Free Burma Rangers today consists of 48 multi-ethnic teams of local young volunteers that are trained in the mold of the U.S. Army Ranger Battalion but they are not meant to fight or attack. The FBR have become one of the most reliable sources of information about human-rights abuses deep inside rural areas in Burma. In Karen state, they work alongside the KNLA (Karen National Liberation Army). Nov. 24, 2008.

Free Burma Rangers volunteers training on Nov. 21, 2008. The FBR was founded in 1997 by an ex-Major in the U.S. Army Special Forces. Their main goal is to be the first form of response when the Burma Army attacks a village and to document it. In case of being caught up in the middle of an attack, they are not allowed to flee until every villager is safe even if this costs them their own lives.

Free Burma Rangers volunteers training at an undisclosed location deep inside Myanmar on Nov. 17, 2008. January 2009 will mark 60 years of war between the Karen people and the Burma military regime, which still controls the rest of the country and holds more than 2,000 political prisoners to this day.

Free Burma Rangers volunteers training on Nov. 21, 2008. The Free Burma Rangers today consists of 48 multi-ethnic teams of local young volunteers that are trained in the mold of the U.S. Army Ranger Battalion but they are not meant to fight or attack.