AFOVA New Letter 2 of Year 2021

Section 6 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 02 / 2021 Page 211 of 332 the visual electronic media was in full strength and visual bytes of the actual hostilities were flashed directly into the homes of the citizenry, who got a ringside view of the happenings at the glacial heights of the Himalayas. They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. But in modern war, there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason. Ernest Hemmingway Though the engagement was of a short duration, the common man became aware of the bitter truth of the war that was being fought at perilous heights like Batalik, Dras, Tiger Hill, Tololing, Point 4875 Point 5203 and many others in that icy cold inhospitable Himalayan ranges. Over 524 brave men sacrificed their lives in pushing back the marauding Pakistanis. Four young men were bestowed with the Param Vir Chakra for their gallant and valiant actions. They were: • Captain. Vikram Batra: ... • Captain. Manoj Kumar Pandey: ... • Naib Subedar Yogendra Singh Yadav and. • Rifleman Sanjay Kumar: The importance of these awards can be gauged from the fact that since Independence in 1947, only 21 men have won this highest decoration for bravery in the preceding 52 years! Unfortunately, due to a variety of “excuses”, we Indians seem to ignore the enormous efforts of the soldier to preserve and guard our freedom. We are going to have peace even if we have to fight for it. - Dwight D. Eisenhower