Naib Subedar Yogendra Singh Yadav

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Today's story of an Indian brave heart.

Naib Subedar Yogendra Singh Yadav

When Kargil War broke out in 1999, Tiger Hill was captured by Pakistani army. Yogendra Singh Yadav of 18 Grenadiers was part of Ghatak Commandos, who were assigned to recapture the hill. The enemy bunkers were on top of the hill at an elevation of 5,300 meters above sea level. They planned to scale 1000 feet of sheer cliffs to reach the top and assault the three heavily fortified Pakistani Bunkers.

Yadav was trained in mountain climbing and alpine warfare and was the first to ascend the cliff, tasked with affixing a rope system to enable the troops behind him to scale the cliff. Halfway through the climb, he was met with rocket propelled grenades and the 12-18 soldiers following him were all dead. He was shot twice in the shoulder and once in his groin. Wounded and bleeding he rushed the last 60 feet of the climb and reached the top. He proceeded to charge the first bunker directly in line of machinegun fire and hurled in a grenade killing everyone inside. He then ran up to the second bunker and proceeded to kill four-man machine gun team in hand-to-hand combat. By this point, a second team of Indian soldiers had scaled up and came to his rescue. He refused to leave without destroying the third bunker, which he and his team successfully achieved.

Param Vir Chakra was announced for Yadav posthumously, but soon it was discovered that he was recovering in a hospital, and it was his namesake, who had died during the mission. Recapture of Tiger Hills was the most important objective of Indian forces in Kargil War.