New Delhi: They fought off terrorists and pirates, risked their lives to save others, walked undaunted into calamities where no one else feared to tread. The bravehearts conferred India’s highest gallantry awards this Independence Day went above and beyond the call of duty.
Among the 103 medals approved by President Droupadi Murmu to the armed and central police forces, four were Kirti Chakras, 18 Shaurya Chakras, one Bar-to-Sena Medal (Gallantry); 63 Sena Medals (Gallantry), 11 Nao Sena Medal (Gallantry) and six Vayu Sena Medals (Gallantry). Nine awards were conferred posthumously.
ThePrint brings you the heroic stories of some of the recipients.
Wing Commander Vernon Desmond Keane, Vayu Sena medal: Shaurya Chakra
On 24 July last year, during a sortie on a Jaguar fighter aircraft, Keane experienced an engine failure warning. It indicated a major oil-system malfunction warranting immediate shutdown of both engines to prevent imminent seizure. No pilot had faced such a predicament before, and there were no laid down procedures to resolve it.
Keane’s citation reads he remained calm, and decided to shut down the left engine and initiated a recovery for the right, while heading for the closest runway.
On approach, at an altitude of 2,500 feet, the right engine failed catastrophically. The aircraft was now in a powerless glide, losing altitude rapidly and approaching the densely-populated Gorakhpur town.
Since the only serviceable engine had also seized, the situation warranted immediate ejection. But Keane controlled the aircraft, and turned away to prevent loss of civilian life and property and jettisoned empty fuel tanks clear of the area.
He simultaneously decided to attempt relight on the left engine and successfully revived it. He then deftly controlled and recovered the aircraft safely off a single engine.
Keane’s courageous decision to remain with the stricken aircraft while displaying superlative piloting skills and exceptional situational awareness got him the Shaurya Chakra.
ThePrint had earlier reported about the teething issues with Jaguar engines.
Squadron Leader Mahipal Singh Rathore: Vayu Sena medal (Gallantry)
On 4 January, Rathore was authorised to fly a training sortie with two thousand-pound live bombs. The aircraft was at the maximum all-up weight limit. During takeoff at rotation speed, as he moved the control column backwards, the aircraft did not respond.
Rathore’s subsequent attempt was also unsuccessful. At this critical juncture, with only 2,500 feet of runway remaining, he decided to reject take off.
Thinking on his feet, and in the face of a perceptible threat to his life, Rathore promptly executed copy book actions. This decelerated the aircraft significantly, resulting in low-speed barrier engagement, followed by a quick exit procedure.
Post-flight analysis revealed an unserviceability which could have resulted in a catastrophic situation, had the pilot persisted with take-off. Despite limited experience, he displayed extraordinary courage and superlative composure to handle an unknown situation, resulting in the safe recovery of the aircraft.
Junior Warrant Officer Vikas Raghav: Vayu Sena medal (Gallantry)
On 15 August last year, when the Garud Flight was tasked for a challenging humanitarian operation in Kangra to combat severe floods, Raghav volunteered to lead his team in the mission.
During the rescue and evacuation operation, Raghav winched down on a rooftop where he was faced with a critical situation — a paralysed 68-year-old patient, a mother with an eight-day infant and two expectant mothers — all in urgent need of evacuation and medical attention.
He prioritised the sequence of rescue and improvised a harness to secure the fully-paralysed patient, cradling her in his arms throughout the perilous winching process.
Rathore then retrieved the fragile infant without harness to prevent any potential risk of choking him in the helicopter’s downwash. Subsequently, he evacuated both expectant mothers who were in advanced stages of pregnancy.
In another rescue sortie, he winched up four infants without harnesses, securing them with a tactical belt and enveloping them in his arms. Despite the risk and complexity involved, he demonstrated exemplary bravery in rescuing the children in tandem, an act that had no standardised procedure or precedence.
He was instrumental in saving a total of 494 lives and was singularly responsible for bringing 152 people to safety.
Captain Sharad Sinsunwal: Shaurya Chakra
Captain Sinsunwal is presently the Commanding Officer of INS Kolkata. The ship was deployed for Operation ‘Piracy in the Gulf of Aden’ from 16 December last year.
The deployment was made in the wake of continuous missile attacks by Houthi rebels on merchant vessels. A total of 27 attacks took place during the time INS Kolkata was in the region, which killed several sailors and damaged 13 ships.
Several of these hits took place within a few miles of the ship, thereby putting it in continuous danger. An additional threat was from Somali pirates, who were using the unrest in the region to hijack merchant vessels. Notwithstanding these dangers, Kolkata repeatedly rendered assistance to missile-hit ships, rescuing 67 lives and freeing 17 hostages.
Lieutenant Commander Kapil Yadav: Shaurya Chakra
Yadav was the assistant engineer officer (AEO) on the ship. While fighting off pirates, it received a distress call on 26 January from merchant vessel Marlin Luanda, an oil tanker carrying the highly-inflammable substance naphtha. There was a major fire onboard after a missile attack.
INS Kolkata responded immediately and reached the vicinity within hours. The command decision was to assist the distressed vessel which had a crew of 27 people (24 Indians, one Bangladeshi and two Sri Lankan nationals).
The officer volunteered to board MV Marlin Luanda as the fire raged. The MV was carrying naphtha, which is highly hazardous and causes irritation to the eyes and affects respiratory and central nervous systems.
On boarding the vessel, Yadav used his technical expertise to quickly understand its system.
When the initial firefighting did not yield desired results, he prepared a metal plate by welding sheets onsite. The officer continued to fight the fire valiantly and with complete disregard to personal safety, walked through the flames in temperatures over 700 degrees centigrade amid harmful gases. The missile had made a hole in the fuel tank, which he covered with the metal plate.
This proved instrumental in cutting off oxygen supply and aided in extinguishing the fire that had raged for 18 hours.
Colonel Pawan Singh: Shaurya Chakra
On 10 October last year, Mission Commander Colonel Pawan Singh received information of multiple casualties from Camp II of Mount Nun in Ladakh.
He took off immediately after carrying out a calculated risk assessment for reconnaissance for landing. The area was totally devoid of a suitable site and reference point. Landing at an unprepared elevation of 19,270 feet has never been done and was beyond the helicopter’s power.
Singh stripped the aircraft to a minimum weight by removing doors, seats, survival packs and even oxygen bottles. The aircraft again flew to the site in spite of adverse weather and unfavourable operating conditions.
Disregarding his safety, Singh pushed through blowing snow, extreme temperatures and lack of oxygen. He carried out a successful low-hover evacuation of four expedition team members and one mortal remains.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)