David Eubank will answer your call, however the connection could also be disrupted by missiles.
Eubank, 61, is the founder and leader of the Free Burma Rangers, an eclectic group of former U.S. marines on the lookout for a brand new purpose, ethnic minorities in Burma and rebels with a cause. Since 1996, the nonprofit group has progressively built a following throughout Burma, with the support of local leaders, by documenting war crimes committed by the national military while distributing humanitarian aid.
Eubank spoke to Globe from an automobile travelling outside Lutsk, Ukraine, that his organization had recently entered. When the road collapsed and the connection dropped, Eubank talked in regards to the intense fighting in Ukraine, then began talking about Texas and the Alamo, an emblem of independence that is nearly two centuries old.
“I still believe in all freedom,” he said.
Eubank is a devout Christian, raised in Thailand by missionary parents. He and his wife, Karen Eubank, have made faith and family central to their organization, which also draws on David’s own experience as a former member of an elite U.S. Army Ranger and Special Forces unit.
The couple raised three children in several conflict zones – now, at a young age, the trio helps their parents run family programs in the sphere during breaks from university. Due to Eubank’s dual role as a philanthropist trained in warfare and a spiritual leader performing baptisms and other rites, he defies any easy description.
“I do not surrender to fear, comfort, pride or the threats of the enemy,” Eubank said, adding that he surrenders only to like and God.
In Burma, a long time of civil war and international isolation have created significant barriers to humanitarian aid. This already difficult situation deteriorated further after the 2021 coup that overthrew the elected government of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and ushered in a brutal chapter of widespread violence and lawlessness under the subsequent junta.
In the midst of a scorched earth campaign by the national military in its fight to keep up control of the country, Eubank’s Rangers could also be clearly well-placed to fill the service and intelligence vacuum around Burma.
Eubank said the quasi-clerical but diverse humanitarian group was operating “without safety rules.” The organization’s website shows that a complete of 59 guards have been killed because the group’s inception. Although some died of disease, it was documented that the majority died consequently of gunfire, mortar attacks, airstrikes, or other actions by the Myanmar armed forces.
You haven’t got to follow any religion. As long as you do it out of affection, don’t run away, and might read and write some language to spread the word, you’ll be able to develop into a Guardian.
David Eubank
According to Eubank, Rangers specialises in three key areas. They provide humanitarian aid, including food, shelter, clothing and medical assistance; documenting atrocities through interviews, photos and videos for media distribution; and offering a spread of coaching, from emergency medical care and logistics to tactical instruction in landmine clearance and battlefield communications.
“There are currently approximately 150 teams representing 16 ethnic groups deployed in every part of Myanmar,” Eubank said. “You haven’t got to follow any religion. As long as you do it out of affection, don’t run away, and might read and write some language to spread the word, you’ll be able to become a Guardian.
While Myanmar is central to the group’s goals, its website and diverse social media channels document overseas missions.
With an address within the US city of Colorado Springs and a mailbox in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the Rangers describe themselves as “a multi-ethnic humanitarian movement working to bring help, hope and like to people in conflict zones in Burma, Iraq and Sudan.”
Financial data on the Rangers website shows that roughly 2,800 donors, mostly individuals, churches and organizations, donate to the tax-exempt public charity Free the Oppressed. Last fiscal 12 months, the organization received greater than $7 million for all the things from medical supplies and cameras to Bibles and Ranger-branded T-shirts.
The nonprofit group’s revenue nearly tripled between 2020 and 2021 within the wake of the military coup in Myanmar.
In addition to the records, the Rangers website incorporates regular updates on the extreme post-coup civil war, including graphic images of the sites of massacres allegedly committed by the country’s armed forces. Army in turn he claimed the volunteer organization “was formed by veterans of the Vietnam War [and] they are actually militants” who train ethnic armed groups to attack their bases.
Eubank denies the accusations and has long maintained that his focus is on protecting the general public, not confronting the military.
“Of course I’m indignant. Of course I’ll support people opposing it [the military]. But I also pray for them, that their hearts can be modified,” he said.
Although Thai was Eubank’s first language as a toddler, he was born within the US and later returned there to attend the University of Texas. He then joined the U.S. Army, serving as Commander of a reconnaissance platoon of the Ranger Army he participated in counter-drug missions in Central and South America before joining Special Forces.
Eubank finished his military service in 1992 and entered a theological seminary. About a 12 months later, he says, representatives of the Wa people – who’ve a robust two-region enclave in Burma along the border between Thailand and China – contacted Father Eubank, a missionary, asking for help.
This could be the start of the family’s work in Burma.
We should not a militia or a military, but we should not pacifists. …If you might have your personal gun, you’ll be able to take it. But you’ll be able to’t use it outside of defense [internally displaced persons] or yourself.”
David Eubank
Since its founding in 1996, the Free Burma Guards have worked closely with ethnic armed organizations, including the Karen National Liberation Army and the Kachin Independence Army. These groups protect the Rangers, lots of whom share the identical ethnic background.
In return, Rangers typically provide knowledge and training in field medicine. The organization has trained over 7,000 people to this point. Eubank said the group doesn’t provide its members or ethnic armies with weapons or military training, but additionally doesn’t prohibit anyone from carrying weapons.
“We are not a militia or an army, but we are not pacifists,” Eubank said. “If you have your own gun, you can take it. But you can’t use it outside of defense [internally displaced persons] or yourself.”
Eubank himself was filmed taking on arms against ISIS fighters through the liberation of Mosul in 2017. documentary in regards to the Rangers from a Christian production studio.
One wounded guard from the battle claimed that Eubank killed three warriors, even after he was shot within the shoulder.
In Burma, Eubank’s policy is to approach but avoid the military.
Still, diplomatic concerns that the Rangers could act as arms dealers for ethnic rebels in Burma have been documented in: leaking cables sent to the embassies in Bangkok and Rangoon by the US Department of State.
In one mishap, Eubank was caught on camera wearing a partial U.S. military uniform during a rally for Shan National Day, an annual festival during which Shan people’s political and military leaders recognize and rejoice self-determination. According to the cable, this allegedly created the impression that the Rangers were supplying weapons to the Shan State Army.
The cable also suggested that this incident—together with some disagreements between Eubank and the State Department over policy toward Thai refugees—had prompted the department to limit contact with the Rangers and instruct Eubank to resign from his commission within the U.S. Army Reserve. The Burmese government later claimed that Eubank’s photo in uniform was evidence of U.S. military cooperation with Shan fighters, and summoned the Rangoon Defense Annex on the matter.
While there isn’t any evidence that the Rangers are giving weapons to the rebels, State Department investigators said in a cable that they “imagine there are other individuals who are literally helping ethnic armed groups in Burma obtain weapons, a few of whom are former U.S. soldiers.” Due to the character of his work, Eubank is probably going aware of who they’re and the precise activities they engage in.”
Overall, small communities of former U.S. military personnel volunteering to participate in foreign conflicts around the globe have resulted in some – comparable to former Human Rights Watch researcher David Scott Mathieson – suggest “War zones (like Burma) attract a rogues gallery of adventurers, fantasists and psychopaths. Eubank and his Free Burma Rangers (FBR) have been called all these and more.”
Mathieson conceded, nevertheless, that those that find the group’s faith-driven humanitarian work disheartening cannot go to this point as to say the Rangers were ineffective.
Sneaking between the front lines, Eubank isn’t afraid of the war realities of his vocation. When asked about balancing love and revenge, he spoke of a type of justice that requires punishment motivated by the previous.
“Justice must have love in it, so that when someone has done something wrong, the punishment must be love,” Eubank said. “It could mean prison or any number of other punishments that help them see the error of their ways. You may even have to shoot them, they may even die, but you will simply kill their body, not their soul, and that is better than allowing them to continue, body and soul, to wreak havoc on others and themselves.”
