Sudheesh B

Biography

Lance Naik Sudheesh B hailed from the Kollam district of Kerala and served with the 19 Madras Battalion of the renowned Madras Regiment. A committed and versatile soldier, he was known as a keen sportsman who excelled at football. Over the course of his service he saw duty across several of India's most challenging theatres. In Jammu and Kashmir he served in Operation Rakshak, where he became part of his unit's intelligence collection team and contributed to the successful execution of several operations. He also served in Operation Rhino in the North East as a member of his company's Quick Reaction Team, and volunteered for a two-year tenure with the Rashtriya Rifles. During 2015-16, his unit was deployed in the Siachen sector under the command of Colonel Um Bahadur Gurung. In December 2015, Lance Naik Sudheesh was selected, along with nine other personnel, to man the Sonam post, one of the highest manned military posts in the world, situated atop the Saltoro Ridge at an altitude of around 20,500 feet. Overlooking the Siachen Glacier to the east and Pakistani-occupied territory to the west, the post was notorious for temperatures plunging to minus 60 degrees Celsius, high winds, frostbite, altitude sickness and sudden avalanches. On the morning of 3 February 2016, a massive avalanche formed by an enormous block of snow fracturing from the mountain struck Sonam post, burying it under 25 feet of snow within seconds. Lance Naik Sudheesh and his nine comrades were trapped beneath the snow. A determined rescue operation by the Army and the Air Force, coordinated from Leh and Udhampur, continued for six days under extreme conditions, but the brave soldier could not be saved. The nation remains ever grateful for his courage and supreme sacrifice.