JAMMU, Nov 27: Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Y K Joshi on Saturday interacted with ‘Bravest of the Brave’ veterans at a military station in Punjab and urged them to continue to strive to safeguard the nation from internal and external threats, a defence spokesperson said.
Over 300 veterans from Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, including war heroes belonging to the 13th Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, attended the rally at Mamun Military station in Pathankot, Jammu-based Army Public Relations Officer (Defence) Lieutenant Colonel Devender Anand said here.
Many of the war heroes had served under Lt General Joshi’s leadership, who was the Commanding Officer of the 13th Battalion Jammu and Kashmir Rifles during the Kargil War.
During the 1999 war, the battalion launched four attacks under the leadership of its then Commanding Officer Joshi, with the most successful one on Point 4875 (now called Batra Top after Captain Vikram Batra).
The battalion was conferred with the honour of ‘Bravest of the Brave’ besides several gallantry awards, the prominent ones being two Param Vir Chakras (Captain Vikram Batra and Rifleman Sanjay Kumar), eight Vir Chakras (including the Army Commander) and 14 Sena Medals.
“Many moments from those glory days were relived and stories retold amongst them,” the spokesperson said.
He said the Army has a long tradition of interacting with its veterans and the ex-servicemen rally was organised for the veteran soldiers of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, presided over by Lt General Joshi, in continuation of this practice.
He commended their continued contribution to the nation building process and hailed their glorious service, the spokesperson said.
The Lt General assured them that they will always remain inseparable members of the extended Army family, he said.
Workshops on new policies and various schemes available to the Army veterans were organized (as promulgated through the Directorate of Indian Army Veterans), he said. (Agencies)
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