The passion to serve the nation, was common in all four martyrs of Siachen

Out of the four, three of them had one thing in common—they were unmarried, but one thing that all four of them had in common was the passion to serve the nation, a desire to do something for the nation.

On Wednesday evening when the mortal remains of all the four soldiers of the Indian Army who sacrificed their lives at the icy heights of Siachen glacier would be consigned to flames, the entire nation would remember the supreme sacrifice they made for the nation. Four soldiers of the army and two porters were killed in the line of duty when an eight-member patrol team was hit by a snow avalanche in the Northern Sector of the Siachen Glacier, situated at the heights of 19000 feet.

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Four soldiers and two civilian porters succumbed to extreme hypothermia.

“Avalanche Rescue teams from the nearby posts were rushed to the location for rescue work. All eight personnel were pulled out of the avalanche debris. Seven individuals who were critically injured, accompanied by Medical teas, providing critical care were evacuated by helicopters to the nearest military hospital where all lifesaving resuscitative measures were instituted” a defence spokesman had said in the evening of November 18. He also said that despite best efforts six casualties which include four soldiers and two civilian porters who succumbed to extreme hypothermia.

The army later identified those killed in the avalanche as Naik Maninder Singh 29 years of age, Sepoy Manish Kumar 21 years of age, Sepoy Dimpal Kumar, 21 years of age and Sepoy Veerpal Singh 22 years of age. While Naik Maninder Singh is survived by wife, Sepoy Manish Kumar, Sepoy Dimpal Kumar and Sepoy Veerpal Singh are survived by their mothers. “When one decided to don the union, he is aware of the risks that are involved in it, but unlike other professions where people see only money, this is the profession which is driven by a passion to serve the nation, passion to safeguard the boundaries of the nation. Above all the armed forces is the profession which teaches you a sense of belongingness for the nation” a senior army officer said.

'The most difficult part is to tell a mother that her son is no more'

The officer said that the most difficult past in his entire career has been to send the message across the family members when someone is martyred in the line of duty. “The most difficult part is to tell a mother that her son is no more, a wife that her husband is no more and to tell a daughter or a son that their father is no longer be around them from now,” he said. While the entire nation is indebted to these four soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice for the nation. They laid down their lives for those whom they never met or had never known. “People will continue with their routine life, unknowing of the fact that our soldiers continue to guard them in minus 60 to minus 100 degrees of temperature and many continue to lay down their lives to ensure that the enemy does not dare to enter or occupy our territory,” the officer said.

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