U Tin Oo

While little is documented about his early life, it is known that U Tin Oo was born on March 11th, 1927 in Pathein, Myanmar. In 1946,  he began his long military career as a second lieutenant in the Burma Rifles Battalion, a branch of the colonial British Indian Army. Within the next four years, he quickly climbed the military ranks. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Tin Oo continued serving in the Burma Rifles Battalion, serving as battalion commander. In 1964, he was promoted to commander of the Central Regional Military Command, and in 1974, he was promoted to commander in chief of the Tatmadaw as well as minister of defense. He served as commander in chief until 1976, and minister of defense until 1977. Over the span of his thirty-year military career, he led campaigns against small factions within Burma, such as the Karen National Union, an armed political group representing the Karen minority in Burma, as well as the armed branch of the Communist Party of Burma. Because of his outstanding leadership, he was awarded the distinguished Thura medal. 

In March of 1976, the Burma Socialist Programme Party removed Tin Oo from the position of Commander in Chief despite his successful career. The reason given for his forced retirement by the government was Tin Oo’s wife (Dr. Daw Tin Moe Wai) violated military spouses' expected behavior by accepting bribes. The following year, he was charged and arrested for high treason against the government based upon the accusation that he withheld information about a coup attempt against the military leader, General Ne Win. In 1977, he was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment and hard labor. His appeals were unsuccessful. 

After the military government granted general amnesty in 1980, Tin Oo studied law and earned a degree. Alongside pro-democracy leaders like Aung San Suu Kyi, Tin Oo helped found the National League for Democracy (NLD) in 1988. Tin Oo continued working with the NLD and was named Vice President in September of that same year. In December, he was promoted to President. Because of his involvement in the NLD which was seen as a threat to the newly instated military junta, Tin Oo was placed on house arrest in 1988 and ended up serving three years in prison starting in 1989. There is little documentation about Tin Oo’s activities during the 1990s, but it is assumed that he was working to promote democratic reform alongside members of the NLD. Despite their victory in the 1990 parliamentary elections, the NLD was still repressed by the military government. In 2003, members of the NLD campaigned across Myanmar, and while en route to Depayin, a northern township, the military sponsored an attack against the NLD and its supporters. While unharmed, Aung San Suu Kyi and Tin Oo were both arrested by the junta, and imprisoned in Kalay. His sentence shifted to house arrest in Yangon and was renewed annually until 2010 when he was released. From 2003 to 2010, Tin Oo was allowed no contact with NLD members. After his release, he immediately returned to NLD headquarters and continued to work for the opposition party campaign. His contributions and leadership to the NLD have made significant impacts on the pro-democracy initiative in Myanmar. His current whereabouts are unclear.