Ramkrishnan Vishwanathan, VrC

Biography

Lt Col Ramkrishnan Vishwanathan was born in Kochi, Kerala on 12 January 1960. He studied at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Gandhi Nagar, Kochi, before attending the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and the IMA, Dehradun, and was commissioned into the Grenadiers Regiment on 13 June 1981. During his career he served in Sri Lanka with the Indian Peace Keeping Force and with UN Peace Keeping Forces in Rwanda and Angola. During Operation Vijay in June 1999, he was the Second-in-Command of 18 Grenadiers deployed in the Tololing area. On 2-3 June 1999, he led troops in retrieving fallen comrades under intense enemy fire at over 15,000 feet. Despite sustaining multiple gunshot wounds, he refused evacuation, charged enemy positions, destroyed three sangars and eliminated four intruders in close combat, enabling the battalion to secure a foothold that facilitated the capture of Point 4590. He succumbed to his injuries while being evacuated and was awarded the Vir Chakra.