Profiles in Heroism: Archive

Keshav · Post by **Keshav** » 24 Nov 2008 22:37

RaviBg wrote:
kancha wrote:
Wow!! Using Kukhri to kill 2-3 soldiers at a time! I wonder why he didn't take the rifles from the paki soldiers whom he killed. Maybe exhaustion. Anyway, I am glad he made it back alive.

What a complete badass. You only see this stuff in movies and epics, but damn... almost hard to imagine its real.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 19 Jan 2009 01:22

A wiki article on Naik Digendra Kumar:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digendra_Kumar

The article is very badly written (in terms of grammar) but contains a lot of 1st person details (unverified though). It claims there was an incident where a large number of 10 Para Cdo men were captured by LTTE. This is the first time I am hearing of any such incident. Can anybody confirm if this took place or not?

Jagan · Post by **Jagan** » 19 Jan 2009 01:29

Raja Bose wrote:A wiki article on Naik Digendra Kumar:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digendra_Kumar

The article is very badly written (in terms of grammar) but contains a lot of 1st person details (unverified though). It claims there was an incident where a large number of 10 Para Cdo men were captured by LTTE. This is the first time I am hearing of any such incident. Can anybody confirm if this took place or not?

Raja, the wiki seems to base it on this book

Ranwa, Mansukh (2008). Mahvir Chakradhari Digendra Kumar. Jaipur: Kalpana Publication, Nahargarh Road. p. 21. ISBN 81-89681-09-5.

Probably worht checking out. Could be in Hindi.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 19 Jan 2009 01:46

^^^ Yes the book is in Hindi - that is not a problem. Unfortunately seems like a local publishing effort so may not be available in mainstream bookstores. Is there any jingo in India in Jaipur area who can get a copy perhaps?

Probably it was published after getting a first person account from Naik Singh after he retired. It is bound to have a ton of interesting anecdotes and first person accounts about Op.Pawan and Kargil. If this was amirkhan....such a soldier's book would be available in every Borders, Barnes&Noble and Books-a-million.

sum · Post by **sum** » 19 Jan 2009 22:27

Jagan wrote:
Raja Bose wrote:A wiki article on Naik Digendra Kumar:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digendra_Kumar

Raja, the wiki seems to base it on this book

Ranwa, Mansukh (2008). Mahvir Chakradhari Digendra Kumar. Jaipur: Kalpana Publication, Nahargarh Road. p. 21. ISBN 81-89681-09-5.

In his pic put up on wiki, is he wearing the black uniform of the NSG or do the para SF also wear black uniforms?

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 20 Jan 2009 12:32

I was thinking the same thing....looks like NSG uniform coz it seems he didnot serve in Para(SF).

k prasad · Post by **k prasad** » 20 Jan 2009 18:17

The badge on the left sleeve says "Commando".

Can some expert identify the other unit badges plz...

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 20 Jan 2009 19:56

The Wiki write up has all the hyperboles one can think of!!

but it would interesting to get the book.

Let me also run it by my SF friends - and see whether this is any truth in this??

HariC · Post by **HariC** » 20 Jan 2009 20:04

The Wiki write up has all the hyperboles one can think of!!

that looks like a straight lift out of the book. The book is in vernacular - and it is common to 'exaggerate' in that media because very little of it actually goes out of the country (maybe even the state) to withstand scrutiny. so no surprise there. digendra singh may have done a stint in the NSG - so whats the surprise at all the badges?

rohitvats · Post by **rohitvats** » 20 Jan 2009 21:03

Id of the badges:

Right breast pocket (of the person): Balidan and the NSG Badge (lower and the higher ones respectively). So the person did serve with Para(SF) and NSG.
Over the Left Breast pocket: Combat Divers Badge.
I've no idea on the badge on the left breast pocket. The location is quite strange. And finally, the black dress is not unique to NSG.

Rishi · Post by **Rishi** » 20 Jan 2009 21:09

What is this "power injection" they mention?

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 20 Jan 2009 22:02

Rishi wrote:What is this "power injection" they mention?

Hopefully not the same stuff used by Kasab and his buddies

The contents of the wiki page seem to be written by someone from Rajasthan/Haryana with barebone English skills, who has done a literal translation from the book (maybe it is the book's author himself, he has a wiki page on himself too - check it out). You can notice some of the typical stuff like "I the Digendra Kumar" and repetition of sentences like "best commando in Indian Army"

If there can be some verification/validation of the incidents that one sees mentioned on the wiki page, that would be great. I am esp. intrigued by the Para SF capture incident (IPKF) that is mentioned coz to my knowledge only 2 PoW incidents took place - 1 involving Sep. Gora Singh of Sikh LI and the other involving about dozen or two soldiers of Mahar(?) who got surrounded - Ray Sir also talked about this on B-R long while back.

HariC · Post by **HariC** » 20 Jan 2009 22:14

Raja Bose wrote:[

The contents of the wiki page seem to be written by someone from Rajasthan/Haryana with barebone English skills, who has done a literal translation from the book (maybe it is the book's author himself, he has a wiki page on himself too - check it out). You can notice some of the typical stuff like "I the Digendra Kumar" and repetition of sentences like "best commando in Indian Army"
.

Probably not the author. the page was created by LRBurdak ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:LRBurdak )

Hi ! I am Laxman Burdak. I am located at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Basically I am a Forester & a nature lover.

I am working on Rajasthan/Madhya Pradesh/India related historical and geographical articles. Any comments or views on the works done by me are always welcome.

Hes been around since 2005 and only recently created the author page

Jagan · Post by **Jagan** » 21 Jan 2009 10:55

Raja, there was a third incident when an IPKF soldier was taken POW. There was a truce when he was released. a Photo was published in frontline mag that showed the IPKF and LTTE together. the name of the solder returned was published but not the regiment or the circumstances.

Besides Gora Singh, there were 18 Mahar soldiers who were taken Prisoners after their convoy got lost. Shyam Tekwani photographed them in LTTE custody and thesame were printed in the India Today issue which had the 'behind enemy lines' photos. All 19 were released pretty some time later.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 21 Jan 2009 11:34

Jagan wrote:Raja, there was a third incident when an IPKF soldier was taken POW. There was a truce when he was released. a Photo was published in frontline mag that showed the IPKF and LTTE together. the name of the solder returned was published but not the regiment or the circumstances.

Besides Gora Singh, there were 18 Mahar soldiers who were taken Prisoners after their convoy got lost. Shyam Tekwani photographed them in LTTE custody and thesame were printed in the India Today issue which had the 'behind enemy lines' photos. All 19 were released pretty some time later.

Jagan, Yes I know of the Gora Singh and Mahar incidents. The third incident you mention was not known to me.

Anybody has still that India Today issue?? I remember the gory pic on the cover as a kid but it gave a hitherto unseen account from the LTTE side which nobody else provided. I tried once getting that issue from India Today but they said they cant do it. If anybody has it and scan it, it will be most appreciated (in case you are in the Bay Area then a six-pack of beer of your choice!).

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 23 Jan 2009 19:15

The first Param Vir Chakra.

The Independence of India came with the pain of partition and the 1947-48 Indo-Pak war. Soon after independence, Pakistan attacked Kashmir with tribals from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) backed by the regular Pakistan Army. They were few kilometers away from Srinagar airport when Indian soldiers fought gallantly to drive them back.

The Government wanted to honour these brave men, but there were no gallantry awards available.

During the Dominion period (1947-50), the British King remained, theoretically, the head of state. Pre- 1947 awards could have been awarded, but awarding personnel of opposing forces with the same medals against each other seemed ridiculous to both New Delhi and London.

Finally, based on specific proposals, new awards known as the Param Vir Chakra (PVC), Mahavir Chakra (MVC) & Veer Chakra (VrC) were finalized in June, 1948. But the Governor General of India could not institute the awards, as India was still a dominion. So a draft of the Royal warrant was sent to London for approval of the Crown in June 1948. But how could the King sanction awards for a war between two members of Commonwealth? Moreover, he refused have even a symbolic presence on the medals, and the draft warrants were never implemented.

A Ceasefire came into force on January 1, 1949. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru urged the Governor General Raja Gopalachari to approve the institution of the awards, but Rajaji thought it was inappropriate as India was still a dominion, and advised Pandit Nehru to wait till January 26, 1950 when India was to become a republic.

After crossing these constitutional hurdles, Major General Hira Lal Atal asked Mrs Savitiri Khanolkar (popularly known as Savitri Bai) to design these medals. Major General Atal was given the responsibility of designing and naming the gallantry awards of independent India. He chose Mrs. Khanolkar for her immense knowledge of Indian mythology, Vedanta & languages like Sanskrit, Hindi and Marathi.

Mrs Khanolkar was born Eva Yvonne Linda Maday-de-Maros in Switzerland on 20 July, 1913, to a Russian mother & a Hungarian father. From her childhood, she was fascinated by India & Indian culture. In the winter of 1929, on a skiing holiday at Chamonix she met Vikram Khanolkar, a young cadet of Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.

They fell in love. In 1932, Eva came to India, converted to Hinduism & got married to Vikram. Then she learnt fluent Hindi, Marathi, Sanskrit, classical music & Kathakali dance. Hindu philosophy was her passion. She wrote two books - Sanskrit Dictionary of names & Saints of Maharashtra.

For the design of the medal, she selected mythological weapon of Indra, the Vajra. Vajra was made by asthis (bones) of Maharishi Dadhichi who happily gave his bones to Indra to make amogh (unfailing) weapon to kill Vitra. The design has four replicas of Vajra surrounding the State emblem including the motto embossed in the center. On the reverse, the words “Param Vir Chakra” are embossed in Hindi & English separated by lotus flower.

While designing the medal, Savitri Bai did not know that the first PVC would be awarded to her daughter’s brother-in-law, Major Somnath Sharma from the Kumaon Regiment. Major Sharma was a battle-hardened soldier who had fought in Arakan, in the Burma Campaign of World war II and had been mentioned-in-dispatches.

His injured left arm was heavily plastered, and he was advised to stay in Delhi. But when heard that ‘A’ & ‘D’ companies of the 4 Kumaon were being moved to the Kashmir valley, he insisted on going with the men. He argued that no one knew his men better than him, and if they were going into the battlefield, then so was he.

On November 3, 1947, the Kumaon regiment established a firm base on high grounds west of the village of Badgam. Though Sharma had noticed what he thought was a group of villagers taking shelter in a nala or ditch, everything else seemed quiet and calm. Sharma was ordered to start thinning out from the Badgam area from 1330 hrs onwards. At 1400 hrs, ‘A’ company had moved back towards the airfield. Sharma was ordered by Brigadier L. P. Sen to commence withdrawal at 1500 hrs.

Everything seemed to be normal until the ‘villagers’ in the nala started moving in different directions around Major Sharma’s company. Soon the entire company of about 90 men was under fire from west of their position. This was backed by Light Machine gun & mortar fire. Major Sharma was hesitant to return the fire for fear of killing innocent civilians.

Using everything they had, they repulsed the first attack. But enemy pressure started to increase & they were soon facing some 500 odd tribesmen. He asked the brigade commander for help, and was promised air support. Being short of men, he laid out ground panel indicators to guide the aircraft onto the target.

D company repulsed attack after attack, but very soon they were outnumbered by ratio of 7 to 1. He was informed by Brigade commander that 1 Punjab was on its way to reinforce his position. But Major Sharma knew that this would take time. With utter disregard of his own safety, he started going from one section to another in full view of the enemy to inspire his men to fight till last bullet so as to delay the enemy advance towards airfield as much as possible.

When he saw that causalities were affecting LMG fire, he started filling LMG magazines himself. Then a mortar shell landed right in the middle of the ammunition, resulting in an explosion that killed him.

This gallant action of D company in which it lost Major Sharma, Subedar Prem Singh Mehta & 20 other ranks, delayed the enemy advance by 6 hours. When Badgam was recaptured by our troops, the bodies of about 300 tribesmen were found at D Company’s position.

Bravery & leadership of highest order was displayed by Major Sharma for which he was awarded the first Param Veer Chakra on 26th January, 1950. His last message to headquarters was “The enemy is 50 yards from us. We are heavily outnumbered. We are under devastating fire. I shall not withdraw an inch but will fight to the last man & the last round.”

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 23 Jan 2009 19:19

Unsung Heros:Colonel Chewang Rinchen

Unsung Heros: Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla.

Keshav · Post by **Keshav** » 24 Jan 2009 04:22

[quote="Vipul"]Unsung Heros:Colonel Chewang Rinchen

My new favorite phrase:
On March 13, 1948, Col (then Captain) Prithi Chand and a few of his Lahauli companions lowered the Union Jack and hoisted the Indian tricolour shouting `Ki Ki So So Lha Gyalo` (`Victory to the Gods` in Ladakhi) and `Hindustan Zindabad`.

sum · Post by **sum** » 24 Jan 2009 09:50

Keshav wrote:
Vipul wrote:Unsung Heros:Colonel Chewang Rinchen

My new favorite phrase:
On March 13, 1948, Col (then Captain) Prithi Chand and a few of his Lahauli companions lowered the Union Jack and hoisted the Indian tricolour shouting `Ki Ki So So Lha Gyalo` (`Victory to the Gods` in Ladakhi) and `Hindustan Zindabad`.

From the same article:

On January 1, 1949, a ceasefire was ordered by the Indian Government. `It came like a bombshell. Given a few days, the raiders could have been thrown out of the entire Baltistan,` it was noted.

Six years later, in the 1971 India-Pakistan war, Rinchen and the Nunnus covered themselves in glory once again.

They continued the unfinished task of 1948, reoccupying the large village of Turtok and advancing further towards Baltistan using `ibex` tactics: climbing through the most difficult path in order to take the enemy by surprise and from a higher position. It helped that Rinchen used hand grenades and bayonets to attack the enemy, sparing the ammunition.

Unfortunately, once again a ceasefire was declared on September 17, 1971 and Rinchen and his men could not reach Kapalu, the Siachen base camp on the Pakistan side. If only he had been able to continue his operations for a few more days, he would have regained Kapalu and one would have never heard of the Siachen glacier conflict.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 15 Feb 2009 15:19

Heroes Are Here

A Place where all Kind of (Military) Heroes are profiled

http://heroesarehere.blogspot.com/

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 21 Mar 2009 09:46

cross post

Pingale wrote:
Hari wrote:I dont know this is the right place, but I want you all people to remember Capt Harshan (Ashok Chakra) , from my home town, who made supreme sacrifice of on this day(march 20) 2 years back fighting terrorist.
more info on how this brave soldier was martyred! RIP

Capt Harshan was to return home, they got his body

Rajeev PI Posted: Mar 23, 2007 at 0031 hrs IST

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MARCH 22: Today was when 25-year-old Captain R Harshan of the 2 Parachute Regiment had promised his parents he would be home to spend his long pending vacation with them and his two siblings in Thiruvananthapuram, far from the killing fields of Jammu and Kashmir at the country’s other end.

Harshan had rung up and talked to his parents on Monday night. He tried calling his younger brother Manu, an engineer in Chennai on his mobile, the same night. Manu will now forever rue that he could not pick up or return that call.

Today noon, Harshan was brought home in a casket, killed in a firefight with Lashkar-e-Toiba militants in Kupwara early on Tuesday morning , a bullet through his neck. When the ceremonial guns fired and the saluting officers retreated, his father K Radhakrishnan, a local lawyer, was holding numbly to a relative watching the flames rearing up.

“I had known him all the four years that he had been in 2 Para. I had not met another officer like him in any Special Forces formation. So quiet and so soft spoken that we often have to really prod him to speak up, yet so good at his job that he was handling the entire training of his formation by himself,” says Lt Colonel S Srivastava, second in command of Harshan’s battalion who brought the body to Thiruvanantapuram.

“He was completely committed, almost obsessed with his missions. He had led so many anti-terrorist strikes before. He was a lot more than a colleague to me, how could God do this to someone like him, “ Col Srivastava choked.

Among the thousands who came to pay him homage today were some of his old schoolmates, recalling the quiet, almost shy, youngster who outdid them in almost everything. Harshan had passed out of the Sainik School in Thiruvananthapuram’s Kazhakootam in 1997 as the school captain and the Best All Round Cadet, moving on to the National Defence Academy.

A bachelor, Harshan was very attached to his family, and even had a special reason for planning to come home today. His elder brother Vyasan, an Indian Revenue Service probationer in Nagpur, had cleared the mains of the Civil Services examination and Harshan wanted to celebrate that. He had made sure that Vyasan and Manu would take a few days off and be with him at their parental home, when he arrived. They were, today.

The Kerala Government today announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to Harshan’s family, and a Government job to his next of kin. It offered the same to the kin of Naik Ratheesh Kumar, another soldier who was killed in anti-terrorist action in J&K.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/capt- ... dy/26376/0

sunilUpa · Post by **sunilUpa** » 25 Mar 2009 18:25

Cross post..

Havaldar Rakesh Kumar does Samba proud

While tracking the footprints of terrorists in Kupwara district on Mar 21, he came under heavy fire from terrorists. The gun-fight lasted for more than three hours, resulting in elimination of two dreaded terrorists and martyrdom of Rakesh Kumar

A VALIANT soldier of the Indian Army, havaldar Rakesh Kumar from Samba district of Jammu laid down his life, fighting terrorists in Kashmir. While tracking the footprints of terrorists in Kupwara district on Mar 21, he came under heavy fire from terrorists. He retaliated immediately and during battle, one of the terrorists was killed and he was also injured in the fight.

Without caring for personal safety, Rakesh continued his fight against the terrorists. During the ensuing fight, his colleague was also injured. Rakesh engaged another terrorist; during the gun- battle, he sustained another gunshot, but he managed to rescue his injured colleague and killed the other terrorist too. The gun-fight lasted for more than three hours, resulting in elimination of two dreaded terrorists and martyrdom of havaldar Rakesh Kumar.

Rakesh had also participated in many successful CI Operations in the districts of Kupwara and Rajouri. Hav Rakesh Kumar laid down his life for the nation. He is a resident of village Daurie, Tehsil Sarna of Samba district. He is survived by aged parents, wife, and two minor children. His cremation was be held at Daurie village with full military honours.

RIP ..

sum · Post by **sum** » 25 Mar 2009 19:10

Damn...
Another SF warrior lost, a local one to boot!!!!

May the Pakis and their handlers rot in hell...

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 27 Mar 2009 11:38

He fought LeT in 26/11, dies fighting them in Kupwara

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/he-fo ... ra/439675/

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 28 Mar 2009 23:43

With pride, father fights grief over death of commando son in Kupwara

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 02 Jun 2009 16:10

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Citi ... 605520.cms

This soldier was to name his baby in July
2 Jun 2009, 0245 hrs IST, Prashanth G N, TNN

BANGALORE: A terrorist encounter in faraway Kashmir may not always directly impact our lives, but the Saturday night one at Rajpura in interior
Kashmir has left a family grieving in Malathhalli near Nagarbhavi, Bangalore.

Gururaj Singh, a soldier shot dead by terrorists near Rajpura, leaves behind his shocked wife K Usha and eight-month-old son
at their modest home in Malathhalli.

....

Usha's father Krishnappa said, "I spoke to him on Saturday night at 6.30 pm. It was all normal and he was his usual self. After speaking for some time, he said he would call by 10.30 pm to speak to everybody else. But no call came till midnight. Normally he would call. But we got to know that the encounter with terrorists took place around that time.''

In his previous call, Singh had said he would be coming to Bangalore in July for his child's christening. "It had been six months since he came home and we were expecting it to be a good family get-together. Earlier too, he had been posted in Kashmir and told us many times that he was safe. He himself had not suspected this would happen, since in his earlier postings, he didn't come across any such encounter. We did not expect this."

Jamal K. Malik · Post by **Jamal K. Malik** » 06 Jul 2009 20:41

Kargil hero comes alive in Kupwara girl

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 11 Jul 2009 09:25

Martyrs of Vellore Sepoy revolution remembered

This was the first struggle much before 1857, but long forgotten.

. . . which took place inside the fort in Vellore on July 10, 1806. . .

Lalmohan · Post by **Lalmohan** » 12 Jul 2009 01:06

Keshav wrote: Wow!! Using Kukhri to kill 2-3 soldiers at a time! I wonder why he didn't take the rifles from the paki soldiers whom he killed. Maybe exhaustion. Anyway, I am glad he made it back alive.

What a complete badass. You only see this stuff in movies and epics, but damn... almost hard to imagine its real.

In close quarter combat, say inside a bunker or a trench, moving a rifle into position to shoot is quite problematic and relatively time consuming, particularly if you need to cock it or load it, without even worrying about hitting your comerades by accident or through riccochets. in the meantime, a well wielded Khukri will tear through the enemy literally in much less time and with much more natural reflexes

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 14 Jul 2009 21:43

In case we are beginning to forget the evil that exists beside our borders:

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?a=jf ... ag=topnews

suryag · Post by **suryag** » 14 Jul 2009 22:13

Sad very sad. Thanks Bose babu for bringing this up. Hats/heads off to Saurabh and his teammates. I am feeling very bad about the incident.

Does someone have any info as to what was the action that the Govt took/proposed against the Pukis. How nice if someone meted out munich style treatment to those who did this to us

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 05 Aug 2009 06:53

cross post - deliberately posting in full:

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090805/j ... 322764.jsp

Bitter cold ceases to bite at son’s place of death in Mushkoh
SANKARSHAN THAKUR

The parents and younger brother of Capt. Jerry Premraj at the 10th anniversary commemoration in Drass

“This war is not about the peaks and ridges on this damned frontier; it is about the men trying to hold them against odds that other men and nature have together mounted. You only get one life and these men have been ready to lose it far from home and hearth and family for as little as a patch of cold, unyielding earth that wouldn’t even offer them space for final rest but which is part of what we proudly call our nation.
“In the end they become ungainly weights on the backs of unknowing mules, their dignity wrapped in ragged blankets. If they are fortunate, these blankets will somewhere have a little badge of honour pinned — an inch of metal for miles of motherland.”
—from a report in The Telegraph, June 1999
The elderly couple sat in the far and low corner of the tent, as anachronistic as a pair of penguins transported to the middle of a desert. The man was in shirt sleeves, the woman in a cotton sari, both wore chappals. Sleet had begun to turn to snow flurries outside and nobody around was sans woollens, not even hardy young jawans; this was Zojila, after all, one of the country’s highest motorable passes — you don’t dare it in cottons any time of the year.
But the two sat in the corner, unmoved and uncomplaining. There was probably more playing on their minds than just the inclement turn of weather: what an alien barrenness their young son had perished protecting, what was a boy from a shore town near Thiruvananthapuram doing on a frozen rock 15,000 feet high?
Capt. Jerry Premraj had been married barely a month when he was pulled out of home leave and ordered to join his artillery unit in Mushkoh Valley in July 1999. The principal peaks over Drass — Tololing, Point 5140 and Tiger Hill — had already been cleared of infiltrators and Indian forces were on a triumphal role across the war zone. The precarious ridges of Jubbar and Yaldor above Batalik were in the throes of flush-out and the threat of a Pakistan-inspired uprising in remote border villages Turtuk below Siachen had been neutralised.
Mushkoh, though, was still beyond grasp; its impossibly steep up-gorge terrain piled daily failure and frustration on the troops. One of the most unfancied sectors of the war of 1999, Mushkoh was also probably the most intractable and the bloodiest. And that wasn’t merely on account of the easy access armed intruders had found to the heights over Mushkoh from the northern Pakistani side; that was also because it was a devil’s task approaching the LoC from the south.
Mushkoh — is a narrow slip-valley north west of Drass, as beauteous as it is treacherous — a cul de sac, cleaved by a gurgling nullah that breaks out of rock from almost nowhere. The nullah’s noisy meander is flanked on either side by rocks rising perpendicular. The nearest roadhead is Drass, 15 kilometres away, and the only way to get there then was to course along a thin strip of rubble overrun by causeways. Getting men and machines into Mushkoh was a lumber.
The valley base was too narrow for heavy artillery to be effective; the heights were unapproachable by chopper or gunship because they forever risked fire from infiltrators parked along the ledges. Casualties were so frequent, they’d had to create an underground field dispensary; it used to be forever choked with the dead and the dying, an etherised mess of sack-cloth, bandages and blood. “Welcome to the killing field,” the brigade-major who headed Camp Mushkoh had told some of us, “We specialise in dispensing medal commendations as death certificates here.”
Two days after he arrived in the devastation of Mushkoh — it would have been the night of July 6, 1999 — Capt. Premraj left his artillery position to join infantrymen battling fire from atop to recover Point 4875, a craggy rock face key to clearing Mushkoh. Part of his task was to clamber up and guide artillery fire on occupied positions.
Point 4875 was taken next day under co-ordinated fire from artillery and infantry guns; celebration erupted in the Mushkoh brigade. But the price of victory had been high — 10 jawans wounded and 17 killed; all of them slithered down the ridges on muleback the next day.
Capt. Premraj was among them, taken away by a single sniper bullet that had merely grazed his arm and burst a vein. Normally, that would have meant a minor injury but at that height the blown vein bled too quickly for the young soldier to survive. He got a posthumous Vir Chakra, his wife moved on from a brutally truncated marriage, his memory became an occasional, but uncontrollable, sob in his modest Venganoor home.
A close friend had arrived in Mushkoh the following day to take Capt. Premraj’s body back home in a cask to Kerala for the last rites. It’s only now, 10 years later that his parents — Ratnarajan and Chellathai, the elderly underclad couple in the far low corner of the tent — were making the journey back to where it had all ended for their son.
They spent the two days of commemoration stoic and silent, never uttering a word, not for the cutting cold, not for all the pain.

rohiths · Post by **rohiths** » 05 Aug 2009 20:18

http://www.cracked.com/article_17019_p1.html

SBajwa · Post by **SBajwa** » 19 Aug 2009 20:25

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090819/punjab.htm#8

Junagarh hero’s feat goes unsung
Sarbjit Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service

Samrala, August 18
Lt Gen Ajit Singh (retd), whose shrewd tactics led to the bloodless capture of Junagarh, a former princely state and now part of the Saurashtra region in the southwestern end of Gujarat, is a sad man today as the country has chosen not to acknowledge his heroic exploits.

The then Nawab of Junagarh, Muhammad Mahabat Khanji III, opted to accede the state to Pakistan on September 15, 1947 ignoring Earl Mountbatten's views, arguing Junagadh adjoined Pakistan by sea. The state was surrounded by the Indian territory on three sides with a coast on the Arabian Sea. The Indian government was strongly opposed to the accession and soon dispatched its armed forces to Rajkot under the command of Brig Gur Dayal Singh.

Being a brigade major at the time, Ajit handled the entire military operation and occupied the nawab’s palace in three hours in the second week of November 1947. “It was a clean, bloodless operation though some forces of the nawab were present in the palace,” said Ajit, who also saw action in World War II and spent some months in a prisoner of war camp in Italy along with Yahya Khan, Tikka Khan and Yakub Khan, who later became leaders of Pakistan’s military and civilian establishments.

“Without informing government officials we had engaged some ex-servicemen, who were told to resort to firing every day during late evening near the nawab’s palace to create a scare inside. We were also backed by a few air force planes that were instructed to fly low over the palace. The objective was to create an intolerable situation for the nawab,” said Ajit.

The Nawab, along with his family, fled to Pakistan in the last week of October 1947 in his Dakota plane. When he realised one of his wives had been left behind, the aircraft returned to pick her up.

“We had asked higher authorities to occupy the palace at the earliest, but they kept delaying a decision saying it was to be taken at the political level. Unfortunately, the country’s political leadership kept dithering and remained indecisive on the issue for quite a long time”, recalled Ajit.

However, when Vallabhbhai Patel, then India’s Home Minister, came to Rajkot, he asked: “Why is action being delayed?” As soon we got the message we sent the forces to occupy the palace, said Ajit. “Later, I drove Patel to the Somnath temple in a military jeep,” he added.

Ajit, who hails from Mal Majra village near Samrala, was commissioned in the Indian Army in 1939 and got two quick out-of-turn promotions to become major in 1942. “I graduated in 1933 and joined the Sikh regiment in 1935, later entering the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun following my selection under a special quota for Indians,” he added.

Following his escape from the POW camp in Italy, Ajit lost contact with the Indian Army as well as his family, which had lost all hope he would come back. But return he did - to Bombay in1945 - and was given a salary with all overseas allowances and later posted at Jullundur. A regular at Delhi’s golf course, he has been a member of the Delhi Golf Club since 1953 and presently lives in the Capital’s Greater Kailash locality.

Airavat · Post by **Airavat** » 10 Sep 2009 05:34

According to sources, three Pakistani militants, joined by a guide from PoK, tried to infiltrate into Indian territory from Sona Gali in Mendhar sector of Poonch district at 11.45 pm last night. Their movement was observed by the troops of 5 Maratha Light Infantry from their Rocket post when they were moving between zero line and fencing.

Troops led by Major Akash Singh challenged the militants leading to a heavy exchange of gun-battle which lasted 45 minutes (till 12.30 am). The militants used automatic AK rifles and grenades during the encounter. An effective retaliatory fire was brought down by the troops. In the encounter, Major Akash Singh and his jawans succeeded in eliminating two dreaded Pakistani militants and seriously injured another. In the process, the Major sustained gun shots and was critically wounded. He was evacuated from the site of encounter and rushed to a Military Hospital where he was declared dead.

Maj Gen R S Pardhan, General Officer Commanding (GOC) 25 Div, headquartered at Rajouri, flew-in to Mendhar during early hours of this morning to monitor the situation. He commended the courage displayed by the troops of Maratha Light Infantry especially Major Akash Singh in eliminating top Pakistani militants and thwarting the infiltration bid.

Major Akash Singh, a resident of Shiv Nagar in Jammu, was an alumini of OTA Chennai. Commissioned into 5 Maratha Light Infantry on 04 Sep 99, Akash Singh had rendered 10 years of meritorious service in the Army. In his distinguished career the officer served in the counter insurgency areas of J&K and the North East. The officer is survived by his wife Mrs Deepti Samyal, a 2-year-old son, and a 3-year-old daughter.

Heartfelt condolences to the family.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 10 Sep 2009 09:50

http://www.zeenews.com/news562172.html

Jammu: "A true Leo"-- is how Major Akash Singh was described by his close friends and colleagues who bid a tearful adieu to the officer killed while foiling an infiltration bid by militants near LoC in Jammu and Kashmir.

"He was a true Leo, a brave soldier, jovial and an inspiration. He always inspired us to lead from the front. It was his motto," Singh's close friend and batch-mate Major Ganesh said as the body draped in tri-colour was brought for last rites.

Hundreds of people joined the funeral procession along the one-and-a-half kilometre stretch from his home to Shakti Nagar cremation ground where mortal remains of the 34-year-old officer were consigned to flames.

"He was my colleague and a brave officer. I feel sorry for not being with him during the operation," Ganesh said with moist eyes.

Major Singh killed two militants before he fell to the bullets of militants near the Line of Control (LoC) at Sona Gali area in Poonch district on Tuesday night.

Singh is survived by his wife Deepti Samyal, three-year-old daughter and two-year-old son. As the guns were raised to salute the sacrifice of the officer, family and relatives broke down.

http://www.samaylive.com/news/army-offi ... 55588.html

Army officer given hero's farewell in Jammu

(Source: IANS)
Published: Wed, 09 Sep 2009 at 19:41 IST
Jammu: Major Akash Singh Samyal, who was killed while fighting infiltrators in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district Tuesday night, was given a hero's farewell by the people of Jammu.

In a gunbattle between militants and army soldiers at the line of control in Mendhar sector of Poonch district, two terrorists were killed, while others managed to escape across the border around 1 a.m. Tuesday night.

Singh, 34, who belonged to Shiv Nagar locality in Jammu, was killed while fighting the intruders.

A crowd of several hundred descended on Shakti Nagar cremation ground late Wednesday afternoon to bid farewell to the army officer.

The moment the Indian tricolour wrapped coffin of Major Singh arrived at the cremation ground, people jostled to touch it. "He was a brave son of the soil, we all have come here to pay respect to him," said Vijay Shanker, one of the mourners.

Singh is survived by his wife, a four-and-a-half-year-old daughter and a two-year-old son.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 30 Dec 2009 20:20

cross post

Juggi G wrote:Pilot son lost to MiG-21 crash, father turns to help school he saved
The Indian Express

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 17 Jan 2010 06:27

Better late than never

Cross post

Gagan wrote:wrt the PAN Am Flight 73 hijack on September 5, 1986 in Karachi airport. This was a Bombay-Karachi-Frankfurt-New york JFK flight.

Neerja Bhanot was the famous yesteryears Charmis girl. I remember seeing all those years in that and numerous ads (She modelled for over 3 dozen companies).
She is the only female ashok chakra awardee and also the youngest at age 23.

Read more about her and the hijack here and here

And here

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 18 Jan 2010 04:38

A small gesture, but nevertheless I am happy to see this!

M’lore City road renamed after Flt Lt Ronald

The Kuchikad Road at Kulshekhar in the city was renamed as ‘Flight Lieutenant Ronald Kevin Serrao Road’ on Sunday as a gesture of gratitude to the valiant Indian Air Force officer, who lost his life while practising bombing exercises at Pokhran ranges in Rajasthan on January 18, 2007. The programme was organised jointly by the Dakshina Kannada District Ex-Servicemen’s Association in association with Mangalore City Corporation.
...
...

kancha · Post by **kancha** » 26 Jan 2010 23:22

Just came across the profile page of Major Suresh Suri, Kirti Chakra (Posth) on Orkut. This how the man described himself.

Hi everybody this is suresh and i am from Hyderabad
I am an army officer. it seems that different people have different ideas of what i am, and what i should be. and then there's me. i am what i am and i have had good luck with many aspects of my life. undoubtedly, the best thing is i epitomise the term "never say die" ...humour and adventour describe me and
i live by my own terms and enjoying the wonderful INDIAN ARMY
The battle is first won in ones mind and then on the battle field

A true hero. RIP Sir