The Permesta movement began at 3:00 am on the 2nd of March 1957 when Ventje Sumual declared a state of war for the entire TT-VII region covering eastern Indonesia. Lt. Col. Muhammad Saleh Lahade read the Universal Struggle Charter to fifty attendees gathered at the governor's residence in Makassar.
The CIA began developing covert support networks for the rebels in January 1958 and provided cargo including six M2 Browning .50 caliber machine guns via a chartered Consolidated PBY Catalina plane. The agency also supplied fifteen B-26 Invader bombers, some P-51 Mustang fighters, weapons from Taiwan, and international mercenaries from Poland and the Philippines before direct American involvement ended following Allen Pope's capture.
Operation Nunusaku began at 4:00 am on the 15th of May 1958 to destroy AUREV aircraft using five P-51 fighters, four B-25 bombers, and one PBY Catalina. Subsequent operations like Operation Mena II retake Morotai on the 20th of May 1958 while a fleet of seventeen navy ships departed Java for North Sulawesi on the 1st of June 1958 to reclaim Permesta bases.
Internal conflicts weakened the Permesta leadership when Warouw was captured by troops led by Jan Timbuleng in April 1960 and subsequently executed sometime in October 1960. This killing caused mutual suspicion among fellow troops and deteriorated cohesiveness within the camp as commanders became more difficult to control and clashes erupted between units.
The Permesta movement ended through a series of surrenders starting with Laurens Saerang's troops on the 15th of February 1961 at Langowan and Somba's troops on the 4th of April 1961 in Malenos village near Amurang. Ventje Sumual and remaining troops surrendered later on the 20th of October 1961 after hearing about the end of hostilities, followed by Presidential Decree No. 322 issued on the 22nd of June 1961 granting amnesty to those involved.