How Yogendra Yadav Braved Bullets And A Difficult Terrain & Changed The Course Of Kargil War

The Kargil War took place in 1999 but it is still so fresh in our memory because of the gallantry displayed by our soldiers who led us to victory.

We¡¯re already aware of the sacrifice our military forces have to make when it comes to protecting the sanctity of our nation and that they do this with a smile on their face. We witnessed the same selfless spirit during the gruesome war.

One person who is the epitome of this spirit is Subedar Major Yogendra Singh Yadav who joined the Indian Army at the young age of sixteen after having witnessed his dad serving the nation during the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pakistan wars.

Yadav enlisted himself with the 18th Grenadier which is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army and has had a history of soldiers who fought during the world wars in the pre-Independence era

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The Kargil War broke out when Yadav was a 19-year-old and he became a part of the commando troop called ¡®Ghatak¡¯. The troop was given the responsibility of capturing three of the most strategic enemy bunkers. If they succeeded, the Indian Army would have a huge geographical advantage. Now, the bunkers were strategic but their location was extremely tough to reach since they were at the top of a vertical, snow-covered, 1000-foot-high cliff face. One can¡¯t even imagine how tough the climb must have been, both physically and mentally, let alone doing so in order to protect the country.

Obviously, the task at hand wasn¡¯t just tough but also important. The Param Veer Chakra citation states the account of the incident as follows:

¡°Grenadier Yogender Singh Yadav, unmindful of the danger involved, volunteered to lead and fix the rope for his team to climb up. On seeing the team, the enemy opened intense automatic, grenade, rocket and artillery fire killing the Commander and two of his colleagues and the platoon was stalled. Realising the gravity of the situation, Grenadier Yogender Singh Yadav crawled up to the enemy position to silence it and in the process sustained multiple bullet injuries. Unmindful of his injuries and in the hail of enemy bullets, Grenadier Yogender Singh Yadav continued climbing towards the enemy positions, lobbed grenades, continued firing from his weapons and killed four enemy soldiers in close combat and silenced the automatic fire. Despite multiple bullet injuries, he refused to be evacuated and continued the charge. Inspired by his gallant act, the platoon charged on the other positions with renewed punch and captured Tiger Hill Top.¡±

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The brave soldier wasn¡¯t just on a difficult terrain but was also injured by multiple bullets. However, this didn¡¯t stop him from moving ahead and even once he located the bunkers, lodged grandes and, there was a close hand-to-hand combat where he killed off four of the enemy soldiers. In all, his body was riddled with 14 bullets but none of these factors deterred his courage. His will to live and win at life was such that he recovered fully and is still serving as a soldier.

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To think that he had this spirit and mind at the age of 19 can give anyone goosebumps. Regarded as the youngest Param Vir Chakra awardee, we thank Yogendra Singh Yadav for putting his life on the line as a mere teenager to protect the nation.