Captain Jintu Gogoi is from 17 Garhwal Rifles. His body was found barely 150 yards from the picket on Jubar Hills that he was tasked to take.

For the Battles and Wars that I fight,
Never asking which one is right,
From Dawn to Dusk and then to Dawn,
Your Bishop, Your Knight Your Eternal Pawn,
Tell me my India “What I am worth.”

While you fill your coffers today,
Wondering where and how to make,
Another fortune, another buy,
Your aspirations are now touching the Sky,
Tell me my India” what I am worth.”

You make a mention on your political line,
Come to my post, wine and dine,
Then run to your stock, while I stand your guard,
Killing and dying but still fighting hard,
Tell me my India” what I am worth.”

The other day I was on TV too,
You came up to me with your educated crew,
Told me to speak cos you seemed to care,
Wrote your story stripped me bare.

I was so naive I didn’t know,
For you it was the nine o’clock show,
The country wants to hear some line,
Before they sleep, knowing they are fine,
Tell me my India” what I am worth.”

My Men tell me, that they are strong,
Would fight for their country, for all that’s wrong,
While I tell them to stand and fight,
You ignore my existence, my very right,
Tell me my India” what I am worth.”

I thought I would tell my children in time,
How I fought for this country, this love of mine,
I wonder, if I should mention it though,
Don’t want them embarrassed, while they start to grow,
Tell me my India” what I am worth.”

I was your ambition, your child hood dream,
Your Pilot, Your Sailor your Jawan in green,
Where did we part as friends, our ways
I never let you down a single day,
Tell me my India” what I am worth.”

By Wing Commander Akshay Phadke

The stomach growls with such an ache,
What he would do for the piece of her cake,
He hasn’t got past dried canned food,
At these heights even you would.

The trigger finger doesn’t straighten no more,
As if it’s that way from way long before,
He still supports a lion’s roar,
Can’t feel the tips no more.

The arms are weary but not weak,
As they scan the horizon to seek,
Some movement to catch the eye,
Like a drill, a day goes by.

The face is cold scratched and bruised,
Would happen to you if you were abused,
It’s still young but needs a shave,
Some hot water in this wretched cave.

He’s been through his child hood dreams,
His parents’ advice his home town screams,
Anything to get by today,
A step closer to some home they say.

He dreams on… about his little girl,
All of two when he saw her last year,
He can feel her fingers clutching his hair,
The last time that he was there.

He thinks about his woman now,
The times she laughed and cried and how,
Her tender touch, her hands, her face,
What a beauty all bundled in lace.

He has changed now in this adapted land,
Knows it well like the back of his hand,
He used to like the hills once,
he doesn’t anymore,
how he yearns to be like before…

…when Siachin had not happened to him,
when his world was more than a ten foot rim.

…when his mind was used to thinking straight,
when he had trouble getting up at eight.

…when his platoon was a band of men,
much more than these miserable ten.

…when his buddy was still alive,
he still comes around playing with his knife.

…when he could do what he wanted to,
or just sit down and think things through.

…when the valley was a picturesque place,
the mountain air had not lowered his pace.

…when it was easy for him to laugh and cry,
how he yearns for those days gone by.

They say it will be over soon,
He will be going home,
Today, tomorrow, next moon,
Alas! Its winter now and he‘d come up in June.

By Wing Commander Akshay Phadke Winter 2001

The President also conferred seventeen Param Vishisht Seva Medals, twenty seven Ati Vishisht Seva Medals to senior officers of the Armed Forces for distinguished service of an exceptional order. The following is the list of awardees:-

GALLANTRY AWARDS

KIRTI CHAKRA

1. Shri Dayanand Pandey, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh (posthumous)

2. Mohd. Shan Ahmed, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh (posthumous)

3. Shri Tarun Kumar Dutta, Assam (posthumous)

4. Naik Radhakrishnan C. (3995047) (posthumous)

5. Captain Subhash Chand Punia (SS-39785)

6. Captain Abhinav Handa (SS-41287)

SHAURYA CHAKRA

1. Sgt Jai Prakash Shukla, (737836), posthumous

2. Captain Sunil Yadav, (SS-40823)

3. Sepoy Rahul, (4281832), posthumous

4. Sapper Shinde Ramachandra Shivaji, (15326453), posthumous

5. Subedar Manohar P, (JC-439107)

6. Lance Naik Jyotish Prakash, (2693628), posthumous

7. Company Havildar Major Ramesh Chandra Pandey (14912497)

8. Maj Aman Oberoi, (IC-59741)

9. Maj Anshul Shukla, (IC-62851)

10. Maj Sanjay Kumar Tanwar (IC-55281)

11. Rifleman Raiece Ahmad Ganaie (9106682)

12. Maj Swapneesh Parihar, (IC-57912)

13. Lance Naik Ravinder Singh Malik, (12944610), posthumous

14. Sqn Ldr Shantanu Basu, (22947), posthumous

15. Naik Rajan Singh (2488248)

16. Maj Ishwar Singh Dahiya, (IC-65199)

17. Rifleman Abdul Hamid Chara, (12974149), posthumous

18. Havildar Udar Bhanudas Parvati, (2789267), posthumous

19. Assistant Commandant Anurag Kumar, (10385166)

20. Maj Virender Singh Salaria, (IC-58612)

PARAM VISHISHT SEVA MEDAL

1. Lt Gen Milan Lalitkumar Naidu (IC-19077)

2. Lt Gen Harcharanjit Singh Panag (IC-19834)

3. Vice Adm Nirmal Verma (01139-N)

4. Air Marshal Packiam Paul Rajkumar, (12018)

5. Air Marshal Pranab Kumar Barbora, (12375)

6. Air Marshal (retired) Jayant Satchidanand Apte, (11900)

7. Air Marshal (retired) Yeshwant Rao Rane, (12210)

8. Lt Gen Thomas Mathew, (IC-19848)

9. Lt Gen Mandhata Singh, (IC-19860)

10. Lt Gen Sarabjit Singh Dhillon, (IC-19868)

11. Lt Gen Pitamber Kishore Rampal, (IC-19931)

12. Lt Gen Saibal Mukherjee (MR-02753)

13. Lt Gen Sivasankara Pillai Sree Kumar (IC-19891)

14. Lt Gen Prakash Singh Chaudhary,(IC-23030)

15. Lt Gen (retired) Ajeet Singh Bajwa (IC-19004)

16. Lt Gen (retired) Puttammadam Rajah Gangadharan, (IC-19873)

17. Vice Adm Birinder Singh Randhawa, (40298-K)

ATI VISHISHT SEVA MEDAL

1. Lt Gen Samer Pal Singh Dhillon, (IC-23791)

2. Lt Gen Ranbir Kumar Chhabra, (IC-23814)

3. Lt Gen Chandroth Kunnumal Suchindra Sabu, (IC-24198)

4. Lt Gen Bharat Singh Sisodia, (IC-24716)

5. Lt Gen (retired) Girija Shankar Misra, (MR-02658)

6. Air Marshal Pramod Vasant Athawale, (13472)

7. Major Gen Soli Noshir Pavri, (IC-25062)

8. Maj Gen Roop Kishore Garg, (MR-03268)

9. Maj Gen Puthiyaveettil Madhusoodanan, (MR-02848)

10. Maj Gen Eppen Jacob Kochekkan, (IC-33015)

11. Maj Gen Shri Krishna Singh, (IC-27203)

12. Maj Gen Avinash Chander Soneja, (IC-27264)

13. Maj Gen Gyan Bhushan, (IC-27972)

14. Maj Gen Anil Chandra Chait, (IC-30016)

15. Maj Gen (retired) Pakala Venkateswarlu (IC-32041)

16. Maj Gen (retired) Jose Joseph Manavalan, (IC-24671)

17. Maj Gen (retired) Anil Kumar Mehra, (IC-24722)

18. Rear Adm Rajender Singh, (01427-T)

19. Rear Adm Harisimran Singh Malhi, (40449-B)

20. Rear Adm Pradeep Chauhan, (01610-H)

21. Rear Adm Niranjan Kumar Nadella, (50445-Y)

22. Air Vice Marshal Raj Kumar Vashisht, (13832)

23. Air Vice Marshal (retired) Narayanan Vijayakumar, (12725)

24. Air Vice Marshal (retired) Trichinapoly Subramanyam Raghu Raman, (12664)

25. Air Commodore Amarsingh Ganpatrao Patil (13272)

26. Air Commodore Gurvinder Jeet Singh Cheema, (14292)

27. Air Commodore Shamsher Jang Bahadur, (14570)

The President also conferred thirteen Param Vishisht Seva Medals, two Bar to Ati Vishisht Seva Medals, twenty four Ati Vishisht Seva Medals to senior officers of the Armed Forces for distinguished service of an exceptional order. The following is the list of awardees:-

GALLANTRY AWARDS

KIRTI CHAKRA

Captain Pankaj Kumar (IC-67341)

Major Shatrujeet Kotwal (IC-58609)

Major Kumandur Prabhakar Vinay (IC-58793), Posthumous

Sepoy Suresh (3193199), Posthumous

SHAURYA CHAKRA

1. Sowar Sultan Singh (15481089), Posthumous

2. Lieutenant Krishan Dayal Singh Rathore (SS-41969)

3. Sapper Babu Ram Veeranna Pattar (15325573), Posthumous

4. Major Paramvir Singh Jamwal (IC-54541)

5. Lance Naik Bhawan Singh (4195647), Posthumous

6. Captain Kaushal Kashyap (IC-62560)

7. Major Pratul Gaurang Mehta (IC-55096)

8. Major Rajesh Kumar Singh (IC-61523)

9. Major Brij Kishore Dhoundiyal (IC-57921)

10. Sepoy Jugulu Sabar (4280474)

11. Guardsman Ajesh M A (15615322), Posthumous

12. Naib Subedar Khem Singh (JC-520065)

13. Srikumar R (GS-161011X), Border Roads Organisation, Posthumous

14. Havildar Bulla Ram (4181600)

15. Wing Commander Anil Kumar (20742)

16. Wing Commander Rahul Monga (20768)

17. Lance Naik Narbu Sherpa (9421906)

18. Major Amit Kumar Chand (IC-55834)

19. Lance Naik Bachhav Shashikant Ganpat (2797930), Posthumous

20. Captain Lalit Kansal (IC-64714)

21. Naib Subedar Subhash (JC-413097), Posthumous

22. Sepoy Badal Hasda (4280041), Posthumous

PARAM VISHISHT SEVA MEDAL

1. Lt General Hardev Singh Lidder (IC-19009)

2. Lt Gen Parmendra Kumar Singh (IC-19050)

3. Vice Admiral Vijay Shankar (01088-Y)

4. Air Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik (12005)

5. Air Marshal (Retired) Gurnam Singh Chaudhry (11870)

6. Lt General Zameer Uddin Shah (IC-19429)

7. Lt General Sudhir Sharma (IC-19440)

8. Lt General Paramjit Singh (IC-23039)

9. Lt General (Retired) Kuldip Singh Jamwal (IC19001)

10. Lt General (Retired) Om Prakash Nandrajog (IC19002)

11. Lt General (Retired) Susheel Gupta (IC-19080)

12. Air Marshal Jai Krishan Gupta (12308)

13. Air Marshal (Retired) Ajit Vishwanath Vaidya (11848)

BAR TO ATI VISHISHT SEVA MEDAL

1. Lt General Mukesh Sabharwal (IC-25213)

2. Lt General Vinod Chopra (IC-29915)

ATI VISHISHT SEVA MEDAL

1. Lt Gen Narinder Singh Brar (IC-23689)

2. Lt Gen Balraj Singh Nagal (IC-24260)

3. Lt Gen (Retired) Kashyap Sundaram Sivakumar (IC-28605)

4. Vice Admiral Krishna Raina (60212-W)

5. Air Vice Marshal Vijay Kumar Dayalu (13096)

6. Air Vice Marshal Anil Chopra (13368)

7. Air Vice Marshal Anil Kumar Khosla (13534)

8. Air Vice Marshal Ravi Kant Srivastava (13312)

9. Air Vice Marshal Chinnabhandar Narsingarao Ranganath (13471)

10. Lt Gen Kammula Ramachandra Rao (IC-24706)

11. Lt Gen Naresh Kumar Parmar (MR-03364)

12. Major General Vinod Nayanar (IC-25544)

13. Major General Jasbir Singh (IC-27034)

14. Major General Vinay Bhatnagar (IC-27205)

15. Major General Nand Kishore Singh (IC-27215)

16. Major General Rameshwar Roy (IC-27645)

17. Major General Naresh Chandra Marwah (IC-27679)

18. Major General Kanwar Vijay Singh Lalotra (IC-27962)

19. Major General Ballachanda Kuttappa Chengapa (IC-32782)

20. Major General (Retired) Amarjit Singh Bakshi (IC-23419)

21. Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha (01480-N)

22. Surgeon Rear Admiral Vinod Kumar Saxena (75153-A)

23. Brigadier Venkatesh Siddalingappa Sommanagoudar (IC-30766)

24. Air Commodore Devinder Singh (14284)

Baba was captured by the Chinese way back in 1962 and hanged at the spot where his memorial stands today.

No soldier, not even a general, is allowed to move ahead, towards the Sino-Indian border, unless he pays his tribute to rifleman ‘Baba’ Jaswant Singh Rawat. Baba of 4 Garhwal Corps who, along with two other soldiers, held on to this post - 21 km from Sela Pass near Tawang - for 72 hours, orchestrating a counter-attack on the Chinese forces before he was severely injured by enemy bullets, captured and then hanged.

Baba Jaswant Singh has attained the status of a deity on the Sino-Indian frontier. A temple has been erected in his memory and the Army has posted five soldiers for the upkeep of his memorial.

For these soldiers, Baba exists. They make his bed for him, polish his shoes and deliver the mail sent by his admirers. They even clear the mails the next morning after “he has gone through them”. Lance Naik Rajesh Kumar of 5 Sikh Regiment, who is on duty these days at the memorial, claims: “Baba is very much there and eats the food served to him. He even goes out at night as you can make out from his soiled shoes, which are polished everyday.”

Rajesh Kumar, however, has one grudge. The Baba still “lives” without electricity. “We have a generator set which we use for sometime in the evening for putting on the lights at the temple and also in our huts,” he says, hoping that the state government may someday provide a permanent electricity connection here.

Incidentally, Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat was awarded a Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) posthumously, something the main Opposition in Parliament, BJP, is not happy about.

“He was the last resistance the Chinese Army faced when they invaded Arunachal Pradesh, yet Jaswant Singh was awarded only the MVC,” says BJP MP Kiren Rijiju who plans to raise the issue of Jaswant Singh getting the highest battle honour, the Param Vir Chakra.

In the battle against Chinese in November 1962, Rawat and two other soldiers were instrumental in killing 300 Chinese soldiers against two casualties from the Indian side. The 4 Garhwal Rifles was awarded battle honour Nuranang, the only battle honour awarded to any Army unit in the Sino-Indian war of 1962.

Guwahati: Indian Army may have been reluctant to debate the debacles of the 1962 India-China war, fought in the Kameng sector of Arunachal Pradesh, but they have not forgotten their war heroes. After constructing a huge war memorial at Tawang, acknowledging the sacrifice of 2,420 soldiers, the Indian Army has now completed the renovation work of memorial of Nyukmadong battle. The battle was started on November 18, 1962 between 62 Infantry Brigade, which was carrying out a tactical withdrawal from Sela under the command of Brigadier Hoshiar Singh, and the Chinese forces that had infiltrated from both east and west across Sela.

As many as 12 units (both major and minor) formed a part of withdrawal force. A fierce battle ensued with the enemy in the general area of Nyukmadong, a small village on the Dirang-Sela road, where several officers, junior commissioned officer and other ranks made the supreme sacrifice after inflicting heavy casualties on the Chinese Army. General officer commanding Major Gen. D.S. Sidhu, 5 Mountain Division, inaugurated the renovated Nyukmadong War Memorial having high Stupa as its centrepiece on Wednesday. He said the war memorial was a humble tribute to the martyrs of the famous battle and it is dedicated to the entire local community too.

“We have tried to combine the local Buddhist design with the contemporary style to give an exotic touch to the memorial,” said the defence spokesman.

The war memorial has been seen as one of the real attempts by the Army to honour those who died fighting a superior and well-prepared enemy in 1962 war.

The defence spokesman also clarified that a memorial existed a Nyukmadong for many years. It was felt that it needs renovation and re-modelling. The responsibility was given to the Ball of Fire Division which has started re-modelling and renovation work in November 2007 and it was completed in a record time of four months. The Nyukmadong War Memorial located in almost 1.5 acres overlooks the famous battleground of 1962 war. There are several other memorials along the Tawang-Tezpur road. One of such classic example was of Jaswant Singh Rawat of the Garhwal Rifles. As his company was asked to fall back, Jaswant Singh remained at his post at an altitude of 10,000 feet and held back the rampaging Chinese for three days single-handedly. He was helped by two local girls - Sela and Nura - in the heroic battle that ended after the Chinese discovered that the post was being defended by a solitary soldier. So enraged were the attackers that they cut off Jaswant Singh’s head and took it back to China. However, after the ceasefire, the Chinese commander, impressed by the soldier’s bravery, returned the head along with a brass bust of Jaswant Singh.

The bust created in China to honour the brave Indian soldier is now installed at the site of the battle. The place is now known as Jaswantgarh.

WAGAH: After having languished in a Pakistani jail for about 35 years, Kashmir Singh on Tuesday crossed over to India to an emotional reunion with his wife at the border post at Wagah.

The 67-year-old Indian, who had been arrested in 1973 in Pakistan on charges of espionage and was on the death row in a jail in Lahore, crossed over on Tuesday afternoon ( Watch ).

Singh, who was pardoned by President Pervez Musharraf on February 28, was given a lingering farewell on the Pakistani side of the border before he finally made his way into India.

Pakistan Human Rights Minister Ansar Burney, who had traced Singh during a visit to Lahore’s Central Jail as part of his work for prisoners’ rights and jail reforms, was among the Pakistani delegation that accompanied him up to the border.

“I have no wishes left. I have got everything now. I thank President Pervez Musharraf and Human Rights Minister Ansar Burney,” Singh said as he arrived at the Wagah border where his wife Paramjit Kaur was waiting for him.

Singh, who was only 32 years old when he was arrested in Rawalpindi, said, “A new life has begun for me and I am grateful to the people of Pakistan and to the Pakistani government.”

He said the Indian government should consider similar steps for Pakistani prisoners.

Singh said he would want to go back to Pakistan, this time on a valid Indian passport, to lay a `chadar’ at the shrine of Baba Farid.

This college is for wards of Army personnel, including Short Service officers who have served the Army for ten years. Children of officers from Army Medical and Dental Corps presently serving in the Airforce or Navy but have served the Army for 10 years and are members of Army Officers Benevolent Fund will also be eligible to apply. Similarly wards of Military Nursing Services and Army Postal Service who have served in the Army for ten years are also eligible.

Admissions to 100 seats will be based on a common entrance test to be conducted by Guru Gobind Indraprasth University.

Eligible Candidates short listed on the basis of CET marks will be called for counseling at ACMS in Jul 2008.

After completing the course, the candidates will have to join the Army as short service officers in Army’s Medical Corps.

The Army already has dental and engineering colleges at Secunderabad and Pune respectively.

THERE are strange and yet compelling bonds that bind together troops and their officers. Perhaps these are born out of shared experiences of hardships, dangers and risks, putting shoulders to the wheel, winning a well-contested match and the joys of camaraderie and espirit-de-corps. Equally, bonds are cemented through pranks and digs at each other or simply a hearty laugh at an absurd situation.

Our unit was equipped with British tanks called “Churchill.” It was fielded against the Germans in the Second World War and had taken its name from that redoubtable and dogged Britisher. Not only did the two, share a name but had many characteristics common to both. Like its name- sake it was big and heavy: tough as nuts and could withstand a lot of beating and give it back to the opponent in equal, if not in larger measure. At times the gun too looked like a big cigar. While one could put down large doses of brandy, the other was a great guzzler of high octane fuel.

So petrol was never in short supply in our regiment. There always was enough of it for cleaning the engine and other parts of the tank that seem to perpetually get greasy and sticky.

We were on annual field firing and were camping near Naraingarh. Our water trucks were of Second World War vintage and highly temperamental. Some time the truck would not start and if it did, the engine would just splutter and die down, or what we called, “race nahi pakarta.” When two, out of the total of four that we had, went “off road” there was acute shortage of water in the camp.

One evening, as we gathered in the officers mess tent for dinner, one of the young officers, who was officiating as squadron commander of the Sikh squadron, complained to the second-in-command of the regiment, regarding the water shortage in the camp. He went on to say that his men were washing their faces with petrol and even use it for ablutions during their trip to the loo.

On hearing this complaint, the second-in-command, a wizened old man and a veteran of the Second World War, had a hearty laugh and went on to narrate a story from North African campaign during the Great War. A young British officer, straight from the academy was posted to his squadron and placed in command of a tank. During a lull in the battle, the tank crew got down to brewing tea. As they sat around the stove, one of them distributed tea leaves which every one put in the mouth and swallowed the same. Though a bit perplexed, the officer did likewise. After this, sugar was distributed and the same sequence was repeated by all, including the officer. Then boiling hot water was passed around and every one dutifully and slowly drank the hot water. Seeing a look of bewilderment on the face of the officer, one of the men observed that, during battles tea is taken in this manner!