Jojy Joseph

Biography

Major Jojy Joseph hailed from Gandhinagar in Gujarat, where he was born on 21 February 1976. He studied at Mount Carmel School and St. Xavier's High School, showing leadership and high moral values from a young age, and excelled at the state level in football, cricket and hockey. After clearing the UPSC examination he joined the National Defence Academy at Khadakwasla, where his prowess on the hills earned him the nickname "mountain goat", and went on to the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun. Commissioned into the Maratha Light Infantry in June 1998, he served in counter-insurgency operations in Tripura and along the Nathu La sector in Sikkim, and underwent commando training at Belgaum. He also served a seven-month tenure with the United Nations Peace Keeping Force in Ethiopia-Eritrea before being promoted to the rank of Major. On 8 June 2005, during a counter-insurgency operation in the Rajouri district of Jammu & Kashmir, Major Joseph led his men from the front and eliminated a terrorist in close combat, but was struck by the slain militant's weapon and made the supreme sacrifice for the nation. He is remembered with deep respect for his gallantry and exemplary devotion to duty.