The Htoo twins’ saga is at once tragic and scarcely plausible. Can these two waifs really command an adult guerrilla army? Old Burma hands insist it’s no hoax. Little is known about the boys’ family except the rudimentary fact that they are members of Burma’s fiercely independent Karen ethnic minority–a people with ancient traditions of heaven-sent mystical heroes. In this credulous climate, the brothers built and led their own fighting force by a combination of superstitious awe, old-style military discipline and pop-star flamboyance–teen-idol hair and all. Before their recent setbacks, the boys employed a dwarf as their gatekeeper. When unwanted visitors approached, the little man reportedly shouted a warning: “Don’t come any farther or you’ll die!” If they faced a battlefield emergency, Johnny claimed, he could summon 5,000 spirit warriors–and somehow he made it sound true. The group’s flesh-and-blood soldiers, most of them older than the twins, were convinced that the Htoo brothers could make themselves invisible, read minds and smell enemies from miles away.
God’s Army was born of the Karens’ desperation. Three years ago the once proud rebels of the Karen National Union were on the run, and Rangoon’s troops were ravaging their villages, when Johnny, until then an ordinary Karen child, began hearing voices. The message he heard had been brought to the region by American Baptist missionaries in the 19th century: “Repent!” The Karens were paying for their sins. Their only hope was to quit their lying, cursing, drinking, stealing and fornicating. Local elders, most of them born and raised in the Baptist faith, listened to the precocious boy’s sermon in amazement. At the edge of annihilation, many Karens were ready to try anything, even prayer. Within a few weeks Johnny delivered another message. He and Luther would lead five volunteers in a raid on a Burmese Army base.
The attack became a Karen legend. The two little boys and five guerrillas brought home a splendid haul of captured weapons and ammunition. Even in the most heroic retellings, the target was only a small outpost. But the boys proved Karens could win. As word spread of the victory and the boys’ reputed magical powers, KNU soldiers flocked to join the twins. God’s Army began scoring a string of modest battlefield wins and building a larger-than-life reputation.
The success of the twins’ 200 or so fighters has helped keep Burma’s resistance alive. If God’s Army falls, Burma’s military rulers will be a step closer to unchallenged power over their destitute police state. Back when the Htoo boys were born, about 12 years ago, Rangoon was at war with nearly two dozen separatist ethnic groups. Now only one remains: the KNU, with about 5,000 demoralized troops and some 100,000 civilians in dirt-poor refugee camps along the border. The KNU’s chief allies are scarcely soldiers at all: two ragtag bands of exiled dissidents called the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors (VBSW) and the All Burma Student Democratic Front.
The twins’ bulletproof reputation would be their undoing. Last October five VBSW members seized the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok, forced the Thai Army to cut a safe-passage deal and then fled to Kamaplaw. Embarrassed and furious, the Thai military sealed the border and began shelling the rebel base, determined to drive the fugitives out. Meanwhile Burmese artillery and ground forces hit the camp from the other side. Dead and wounded guerrillas piled up while medicine and surgical dressings ran out–along with the rebels’ faith in their own invincibility.
At dawn on Monday, 10 panicky rebels made a break for it. Masked and wielding assault rifles, they hijacked a crowded Thai commuter bus. They squabbled among themselves about where the driver should take them and finally made up their minds. At 7:30 a.m. they rolled into the hospital complex at Ratchaburi, firing their weapons in the air. The gunmen demanded that the Thais open the border so Karen civilians could escape the fighting. They demanded immediate medical assistance for their wounded comrades at Kamaplaw. And they demanded safe passage back to the base for themselves.
The Thais haggled while a team of commandos infiltrated the hospital, disguised as patients and medical staff. At 5:30 the next morning, police and soldiers retook the hospital. The only casualties among the hostages during the entire episode were four patients who died in the absence of proper care.
Luther and Johnny did not participate in the hospital raid. By the weekend the twins were nowhere to be found. Their mother is said to be in a Karen refugee camp in Thailand. No one says a word about their father’s whereabouts. If the boys are alive, one thing is certain: they are praying as hard as they can.
