Yogendra Singh Yadav


Yogendra Singh Yadav PVC is a Junior Commissioned Officer in the Indian Army, who was awarded the highest Indian military honour decoration, the Param Vir Chakra, for his action during the Kargil War. Aged 19 when he received the decoration, he is the youngest person to be awarded the medal.

Early life

Yogendra Singh Yadav was born on 10 May 1980 in the Ahir community of Sikandrabad in Aurangabad, Bulandshahr District, of Uttar Pradesh. His father Karan Singh Yadav served in the Kumaon Regiment, participating in the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pakistan wars. Yadav joined Indian Army at age 16 years and five months.
on Kargil Vijay Divas, 2018

Career

Kargil War

Yadav, enlisted with the 18 Grenadiers, and was part of the Ghatak Force commando platoon, tasked to capture three strategic bunkers on Tiger Hill in the early morning hours of 4 July 1999. The bunkers were situated at the top of a vertical, snow-covered, cliff face. Yadav volunteered to lead the assault, climbed the cliff face and installed ropes that would allow further assaults on the feature. Halfway up, machine gun and rocket fire came from an enemy bunker, killing the platoon commander and two others. In spite of being hit by multiple bullets in his groin and shoulder, Yadav climbed the remaining and reached the top. Though severely injured, he crawled to the first bunker and lobbed a grenade, killing four Pakistani soldiers and neutralizing enemy fire. This gave the rest of the platoon the opportunity to climb up the cliff face.
Yadav then charged the second bunker along with two of his fellow soldiers and engaged in hand-to-hand combat, killing four Pakistani soldiers. The platoon subsequently succeeded in capturing Tiger Hill. Though Yadav was hit by 21 bullets he played a major role in its capture.
The Param Vir Chakra was announced for Yadav posthumously, but it was soon discovered that he was recuperating in a hospital, and it was his namesake who had been slain in the mission.

Param Vir chakra citation

According to the Param Vir Chakra citation on the Indian Army's website, Yadav "displayed the most conspicuous courage, indomitable gallantry, grit and determination under extreme adverse circumstances".

Portrayal in film and media

In the Bollywood film Lakshya about Tiger Hill, the actions of the fictional war hero Karan Shergill played by Hrithik Roshan is a screen adaptation depicting the heroic deeds of Yadav's platoon, among others. It provides a detailed description of their arduous journey to capture the strategically placed bunkers on Tiger Hill.
The assault led by another Ghatak platoon from the same regiment on Tololing was adapted as one of the prominent battle scenes in the Hindi film LOC Kargil. Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpai portrayed the role of Yadav in the film.
Western websites have also paid tribute to him and his actions at Tiger Hill, with articles such as "5 Real Life Soldiers Who Make Rambo Look Like a Pussy" by Cracked.com and "The Badass of the Week: Yogendra Singh Yadav".