Pause a moment to remember 1971 #Indo – Pak War brave heart - Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon on his 71st birthday anniversary.
Flying Officer #NirmalJitSinghSekhon, PVC was an officer of the Indian Air Forcewho was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra, #India's highest military decoration, in recognition of his lone defence of #Srinagar Air Base against a PAF air raid during the Indo-#Pakistani War of 1971. He is the only member of the Indian Air Force to be honoured by a Param Vir Chakra. Nirmal Jit was the son of Flight Lieutenant Tarlochan Singh Sekhon.
Flying Officer Sekhon fought successive waves of intruding Pakistani aircraft with valour & determination. On Dec 14, 1971, Srinagar airfield was attacked by a wave of six enemy F-86 Sabre aircraft. Sekhon was on readiness duty at the time. However, he could not take off at once because of the clouds of dust raised by another aircraft which had just taken off. By the time the runway was fit for takeoff, no fewer than six enemy aircraft were overhead. In-spite of the mortal danger of attempting to take off during an attack, and in-spite of the odds against him of the harsh weather conditions, he took off & immediately engaged a pair of the attacking Sabres. He succeeded in damaging two of the enemy aircraft, and was eventually overcome by sheer weight of numbers. His aircraft crashed & was martyred. PAF Sabres fled from the scene of the battle without pressing home their attack against the town & the airfield.
Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon was awarded the highest wartime gallantry medal, Param Vir Chakra, posthumously.
Did you know: A postal stamp was issued by the Indian Govt in honour of Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon in the year 2000, & a statue of Nirmal Jit was erected with his aircraft at district court of #Ludhiana in Sep 2013. A marine tanker built in 1985 was also named Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon, PVC!
Share. Salute. Show Respect to those #ServingOurNation
( hari krishnamurthy K. HARIHARAN)"think of them as Sand paper.
They Scratch & hurt you,
but in the end you are polished and they are finished. ''
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