Staff Reporter
Indian army Captain K Benjonglumba Chang, 6th Battalion, the Grenadiers; and Lance/naik, Elonthung N Patton, 17 Battalion (Assam Regiment)— from Nagaland were among the 117 soldiers awarded the gallantry and distinguished service awards for their outstanding contribution to the country on March 15.
The awards were presented by Lieutenant general, Upendra Dwivedi, General officer Commanding-in-chief Northern Command, during the investiture ceremony held at Udhampur conducted by Indian Army’s northern command to honour its personnel deployed in the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
This year’s the awards included Sena Medal, Bar to Sena Medal, Yudh Seva Medal and Vashisth Sena Medal. 91 gallantry awards were presented to those who showed exemplary courage under extreme circumstances and 25 distinguished service awards were presented for selfless service to the nation, a defence spokesman said.
Among the gallantry awardees, 19 of them were awarded posthumously to the next of kin of the soldiers who were martyred during combat.