YADAV IN MILITARY

The Ahir/Yadav community has served the Indian armed and defense forces and laid down their lives to safeguard India. Some prominent battles fought by Ahir soldiers are the Indo-China war, the kargil war [106][107] Akshardham,[108] and Parliament attacks.[109]
Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav of the Indian army was awarded the highest Indian military honour, Param Vir Chakra for his actions during the Kargil War on 4 July 1999.
Namdev Jadhav received Victoria cross also during the Burma Campaign of the Second World war, Havaldar Umrao Singh,[110][111] a gunner, won the Victoria Cross; which is a world–wide symbol of the recognition of the highest form of bravery in the face of the enemy; in hand to hand combat with the Japanese infantry, when its do or die squads raided his gun position, in the Kaladan Valley. He killed ten of them with his bare hands armed only with the gun bearer (a heavy metallic tool) they found him exhausted and bleeding in the morning but still alive amidst a pile of Japanese corpses littered around the gun, which, remarkably, was found to be still fit for immediate firing.
In the Indo-China War of 1962, the Ahirs (almost all of them from the Ahirwal region of Southern Haryana) of 13 Kumaon Regiment set an unparallel example in the military history of Aryavart by defending their position at Rezang La in Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir. The battle of Rezang La, a ridge overlooking the strategic Chushul plains in Ladakh, to defend the highest air strip in the world located at 16,000 feet — just across the Chinese claim line — is a chapter in the history of the Indian army which has been compared by some Indian military historians with the famed Battle of Thermopylae[citation needed]. In the final phase of the Indo-China War of 1962, where Indian units typically offered little resistance while being routed by attacking PLA[disambiguation needed] forces, the Ahir Charlie Company from 13 Kumaon Regiment, set a rare example of raw courage, bravery and dedication by literally fighting to the last man. Of the 120 defenders, only four survived, all seriously wounded. The dead bodies of those who died were discovered after the winter, frozen, mostly holding their weapons but with no ammunition. According to some accounts, several jawans, having run out of ammunition, came out of the pickets and charged the enemy with bare hands. Lance Naik Ram Singh killed several Chinese soldiers after lifting and hitting them against the rocks. It is also believed that these jawans inflicted heavy casualties on the attackers. Of the 120 soldiers, 114 were Yadavas from Ahirwal region of Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi.
On this horrific battle, Major-General Ian Cardozo, in his book Param Vir, Our Heroes In Battle writes, “When Rezang La was later revisited dead jawans were found in the trenches still holding on to their weapons... every single man of this company was found dead in his trench with several bullet or splinter wounds. The 2-inch mortar man died with a bomb still in his hand. The medical orderly had a syringe and bandage in his hands when the Chinese bullet hit him... Of the thousand mortar bombs with the defenders all but seven had been fired and the rest were ready to be fired when the (mortar) section was overrun.”
General T.N. Raina said, "You rarely come across such example in the annals of world military history when braving such heavy odds, the men fought till the last bullet and the last man. Certainly the Battle of Rezang La is such a shining example."
General K S Thimayya remarked, "I had said many years ago that the Army must have a Ahir Regiment. The supreme sacrifice of the Charlie Company has fulfilled my expectations. I hope a suitable memorial will be built in Ahirwal in their memory so that the generations to come may seek inspiration from the immense courage and valour of their forefathers."
The heroes who were awarded the Vir Chakra in 1962 defending Rezang La were Naik Hukum Chand (posthumous), Naik Gulab Singh Yadav(villageManethi), Lance-Naik Singh Ram (posthumous), Subedar Ram Kumar and Subedar Ram Chander Maha Vir Chakra Rao Chiman Singh, Gokulgarh, Rewari. All were from the Ahirwal region. [110][112][113]
A small memorial for the dead soldiers in Rezang La reads:
How can a man die better,
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And temples of his gods.
To the sacred memory of the Heroes of Rezang La,
114 Martyrs of 13 Kumaon who fought to the Last Man,
Last Round, Against Hordes of Chinese on 18 November 1962.
Built by All Ranks 13th Battalion, The Kumaon Regiment.