“We want our country back,” one replied.The missionary medic from Texas is well-known in Myanmar circles, and the exploits of his Free Burma Rangers (FBR) humanitarian group have drawn headlines for years. They lately expanded beyond the predominantly Buddhist country to other crisis hotspots, including Iraq and Syria, where they helped Yazidis and Kurds being massacred by ISIS militants. In 2020, a documentary about the group’s time in the Middle East was released, and Eubank published a memoir the same year.
Eubank (L) performs a medical procedure on a woman displaced by conflict in Myanmar. He is accompanied by fellow Free Burma Ranger Doh Say. Photo courtesy of the Free Burma Rangers
But Myanmar security forces have shown no interest in de-escalation. Instead, they’ve rolled out a lethal campaign of violence, gunning down protesters in broad daylight and detaining thousands.
With his years of work in the country, Eubank understands the military’s appetite for cruelty better than most. He has personally witnessed human rights violations and atrocities carried out by security forces against ethnic and religious minorities for decades. In the last few months, however, the junta has used more sophisticated weaponry, launching the first airstrikes in Karen State in 20 years, forcing villagers to hide in holes carved out of mountains.“We can help by strengthening everyone who’s resisting, and by appealing to the dictators by saying there’s another way.”
“It’s not just bombings, but rockets, and machine gun strafing,” Eubank said of the modern arsenal. “This was at a level we haven’t seen.”
The Free Burma Rangers conduct reconnaissance training. Rappelling, swimming, navigation and documentation are all part of their work. Photo courtesy of the Free Burma Rangers
When they first arrived Myanmar was largely shut off from the world. The couple had to hike across the border illegally from Thailand. Within years, other groups persecuted by the ethnic Bamar-dominated military invited Eubank to come help them, and his reputation spread. He came up with the concept of the Free Burma Rangers a few years later after an army offensive displaced hundreds of thousands of people in the late 1990s.
“I remember thinking, I’ll help one person,” he said. “I had no plan, but I’ll help one person, they’ll be glad, and I’ll be glad and that’s it,” reflecting on the beginnings of FBR. “I went to the border with four backpacks of medicine myself,” he said. “Then locals slowly started joining, and pretty soon we were the Free Burma Rangers.”
Dave and his wife, Karen, kiss after completing a 25 mile walk in Kachin State, Myanmar to celebrate their 20th anniversary. Photo courtesy of the Free Burma Rangers
“War zones attract a rogue’s gallery of adventurers, fantasists and psychopaths. Eubank and his Free Burma Rangers (FBR) have been called all those and more,” Mathieson wrote.
It’s true that some find Eubank’s Christian rhetoric disagreeable. Mathieson also notes support for the group’s activities from some Republican members of congress. Others simply can’t come to terms with why he has thrown himself into conflict zones. But as Mathieson points out, although his style of humanitarian relief may put many off, “you would be a churlishly judgy atheist to claim they haven’t been effective.”Eubank said FBR is not a religious organization. But there’s undeniably a deep spiritual motivation for the work he does.
Since its founding, FBR has expanded operations to the Middle East and North Africa, working in Sudan, Kurdistan, Iraq and Syria. In 2016, he personally fought against ISIS insurgents to protect refugees who were targeted. One video shows Eubank throwing himself into a line of sniper fire to rescue a child in Mosul.
The Eubank family pose in a military vehicle during relief operations in Iraq. Photo courtesy of the Free Burma Rangers
The line between medic and soldier can sometimes feel blurred to observers. Over the last 25 years, 30 rangers have been killed. The reality of encountering life-threatening scenarios has led many rangers to carry weapons. Eubank said they don’t have a policy of arming rangers, but that they can carry rifles or handguns to protect themselves and other refugees.
“I look at weapons like a tool,” Eubank said. “There’s a place to use them and there’s a time to use them. So we tell our guys, you can’t use these to go attack the Burma Army, or anybody else. But, if the Burma Army comes, and you have to defend yourself or the villagers you’re with, that’s the time you can use it if you want. That’s between you and God.”Since the coup, Eubank has spent his time on the hills of Karen State. He’s been providing food and water to those stranded and stitching up wounded IDPs, including a child who survived an airstrike that killed his father.
He’s also pleading with the international community to do more. But the real change must come from inside the country, he said. Until then, he can only pray and keep offering medical aid.
“Some people say you’re doing this to be a hero,” he said. “But self preservation trumps image every time. And so when you’re in those situations, where the danger is clear, and the probability of you surviving is not there, you don’t move forward because of pride. But you go forward because of love.”
