It was 4th May 1999. In the dead of night, twenty-one Indian soldiers started a climb to the Tiger Peak, one of the highest peaks in the Drass-Kargil district of J&K. A team of seven soldiers got ahead of the rest and reached the top.
Subedar Major Yogendra Singh Yadav, a 19-year-old soldier, was also one of the 7 soldiers who had made it to the top of the Tiger Mountain. This is the tale of his remarkable courage, which changed the course of the Kargil War.
Barely out of high school, Yadav had only been in the military for 2.5 years. He may not have had this experience, but he had an overwhelming passion for his motherland.
As his unit, the 18th Grenadiers reached the top in the early hours of May 5th, 1999, they encountered three assaults from enemy soldiers. Combat without enough arms and ammunition, six soldiers died, except for Yadav.
Yadav took 17 bullets, but none of them was able to break his undying devotion to the country. Severely wounded, lying on the ground, Yadav acted to be dead while listening to the exchange with the Pakistani soldiers.
He learnt that the Pakistani army was planning to attack India's medium machine gun station, situated 500 meters downhill. Yadav was alerted instantly. He wanted to keep himself safe, despite bleeding profusely, just so that he could give his unit a tip-off.
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In the meantime, two Pakistani soldiers came and started to shoot dead soldiers again to make sure they were all gone. One bullet hit Yadav in the head, and he felt he'd lose his last chance to live.
Very quietly, Yadav took out a hand grenade and threw it at a Pakistani soldier who was only a few feet away from him. The grenade landed inside the hood of his jacket, and before he could figure out what had happened, he was blown off by an explosion.
Yadav then crawled, took hold of one of the rifles, and began firing at the enemy while shifting his positions to give the impression that there were more than one soldiers.
There was soon a situation of confusion and panic among Pakistani soldiers. If the Indian Army's reinforcement had come, they would have left.
Yadav had only crawled for a few meters when he saw the base of the Pakistani army, their tanks and their engine position. He wanted to give this knowledge to his group as quickly as he could, in order to avoid any losses, to the other soldiers making their way to Tiger Hill.
But before going on, he crawled back to the spot where the six soldiers were lying dead and tested if anyone was alive. Alternatively, he saw the pieces of their bodies sitting here and there. He broke down and cried out to his heart.
Shortly after, he gathered himself, threw his broken arm on his back, crawled along the river, and finally landed in a pool.
There, he found several Indian army soldiers who had carried him out of the pit and to the commanding officer. Yadav recounted everything he saw and learned from the commanding officer, Colonel Kushal Chand Thakur, the man who had formulated a plan to capture the Tiger Hill.
After giving important information to his officers, the man of steely determination fell unconscious.
He became conscious three days later at a hospital in Srinagar. By this time, the Indian Army had successfully captured Tiger Hill with zero casualties.
In August 1999, Nayab Subedar Yogendra Singh Yadav was awarded Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military decoration, awarded for displaying exemplary courage during wartime.
On 26 January 2006, Yadav received the award from the then President K. R. Narayanan, becoming the youngest recipient of this honor.
During an interview to DD National, Yadav said:
"A soldier is like a selfless lover. With this unconditional love, comes determination. And for this love for his nation, his regiment, and his fellow soldiers, a soldier doesn't think twice before risking his life."
PVC Subhedar Major Yogendra Singh Yadav is Honorary Captain now.
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