Aditya Mishra

Biography

Captain Aditya Mishra hailed from Lucknow district of Uttar Pradesh and was born on 24 December 1974. Although his family originally belonged to Almora district of Uttarakhand, they later settled in Lucknow. The son of Colonel G S Mishra (Retired) and Smt Veena Mishra, he did his early schooling at Children Academy and Cathedral School in Lucknow, before completing his education at Army Public School, Dhaula Kuan, Delhi. Adventurous by nature, he was inspired by his father to serve in the Armed Forces and was selected for the National Defence Academy in 1992. He passed out of the NDA in 1995 and proceeded to the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, for further training. Commissioned into the Corps of Signals as a Second Lieutenant in June 1996 at the age of 21, he was assigned to the arm responsible for providing communications to the Indian Army in both peace and war. Early in his career he found himself in active operations when his unit was drawn into Operation Vijay in 1999. During July 1999, Captain Mishra was serving with the Signals Company of the Ladakh Scouts, deployed in the Batalik sector of Kargil district. With troop movements requiring constant, secure communication links between front-line units and headquarters, he was responsible for establishing these vital lines. On 25 July 1999, he was tasked with laying communication lines at a post situated above 15,000 feet on steep, rocky terrain. Crawling forward with his men, he succeeded in establishing the required links but came under enemy fire. He and his men retaliated fiercely, suffering casualties in the process. Captain Mishra was seriously injured during the exchange and later succumbed to his wounds. He led from the front with courage and commitment, laying down his life at the age of 24 in the service of the nation.