'My adrenalin kicked in and the happiness returned! It was time to go in for the kill again.' IAF Veterans Group Captain Dilip Kumar Dass tells Air Commodore Nitin Sathe about how the IAF decimated tanks in the famous Battle of Longewala.
''I heard from the Pakistani brigadier that Flying Officer Pradeep Apte had been killed after he ejected safely and tried to escape. This news sent a chill up my spine. I had been lucky so far...'
Air Commodore Jawahar Lal Bhargava recalls how he ejected from his failing aircraft in Pakistan during the 1971 War.
'They asked me if I was a devout Muslim and if I could recite the Kalma.' Flying Officer Jawahar Lal Bhargava knew his game was up. 'They threatened me with dire consequences if I didn't tell the truth.'
Any nation that yearns to fulfil the aspirations of its people needs two emotional nutrients: Sense of pride and sense of shame. Wonder whether the sight of military veterans protesting governmental injustice will prick the national conscience, asks M P Anil Kumar.
As for the Kargil martyrs, the lives of their kith and kin were dashed to pieces for ever. The nation cannot repay the debt we owe to them, but the least we can do is to salute these valiant men for their personal sacrifice to preserve our territorial integrity, says MP Anil Kumar on the occasion of Vijay Divas
'I did not find anything atrociously out of place about the depiction of the IAF's image,' says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
Just 21 then, a young air force officer looks back at the 1971 war, which was like a baptism by fire in the fauj.
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