Captain Vijayant Thapar, VrC

Watching Fighter jets flying over his head and shooting pistols at a very young age, Captain Vijayant was born on 26^th December 1976 in an army family where his father was a Colonel in Army and soon his son was about to be 4^th generation officer in Army. Captain was named after the Main battle tank ‘VIJYANT’ of Indian Army. To serve in the Army or Air Force, was in his blood by birth and wearing his father cap and acting like an officer was one of his interest areas. Enjoying his outdoor activities to the fullest, playing with toy guns and ace swimmers who later took over bodybuilding. Watching wrestling matches and boxers was his evening thing. Apart from serving the nation, no other option was in mind and one day his hard work led the way to Indian Military Academy (IMA)

With the silver medal in his name for 2^nd best cadet at Academy, and gold medal at water polo, earning his para jump badge after parasailing he graduated from academy and joined 2Rajputana Rifles at Gwalior. His unit moved to terrorist hotspot Kashmir and there he was involved in many experiences of counter insurgency operation.

With the contribution in capturing the tololing peak, his battalion and men were fired up to capture the Three Pimples, knoll point near tiger hill. Operation was planned at full moon and the enemy had good position over them and it was a hard task to capture the point. High cliffs and hard edges, at harsh temperatures of -15 and altitude of 15000ft was almost impossible for normal human beings to function properly. Cpt. Vijayant leading one of the platoon came under enemy fire and his platoon lost few men at the early stage of operation. During the heavy fire and bombarding by enemy,Cpt. Vijayant platoon got separated from the company. However, with the determination to clear the enemy and capture the post under heavy fire, they got together with the company. When they joined the company back, the company had secured many footholds at knoll but lost the company commander. Cpt. Vijayant got through narrow ridges and engaged the enemy just 15m away from them. With hours of battle, he decides to finish the enemy on his own and suddenly during this the burst of fire stuck on his head and fell straight into his buddy’s arms. After that the company was successful in capturing the knoll point with the sacrifice of brave officers and soldiers. He was just 22 years old and only put 6 months of service to his name before laying his life for the country. For his bravery and excellence service and commendable leadership he was awarded Vir Chakra which was received by his grandmother. Grand and memorable farewell was organised at his hometown for his last rites and later the Army dedicated a helipad at Dras by his name Vijyant Helipad.