Sergeant Dipprasad Pun wins Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for bravery
Just ran across this on Facebook. Here is a quick background behind the story. He was awarded Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for bravery for his actions.
Sgt Pun told yesterday how he was on guard duty at the base near Rahim Kalay in Helmand Province on September 10 last year when he heard a digging sound in the darkness in front of him.
Grabbing two radios, a GPMP machine gun, his SA80 rifle, a grenade launcher and an arsenal of hand-held grenades he climbed onto the rooftop and opened fire.
With rocket propelled grenades and gun fire flying over his head from all directions he defended the position for more than 15 minutes, killing three Taliban and forcing the others to flee.
At one point the diminutive soldier turned around to see a “huge” Taliban fighter approaching him on the rooftop, a few feet away, having silently scaled the wall, and shot him.
While the mass of Taliban fired from an area of open ground, another crept into the compound and tried to climb the wall but he spotted him.
“I tried to fire my SA80 but it wouldn’t work,” he said.
“I don’t know if there was an obstruction or the magazine was finished.
“I threw my SA80 down and grabbed a sandbag but it wasn’t tied and all the sand dropped out.
“As I tried to jump into the sentry post I found a metal rod from the GPMG (machine gun) tripod and pulled it round and hit him.”
As he ran towards the Taliban fighter he gave a shout of “Marchu Talai” Nepalese for “I’m going to kill you.”
It also seems that his unit has a proud history as well.
“The Brigade of Gurkhas is one of the most decorated British Army Regiments and 13 of its soldiers have been awarded the Victoria Cross,” the Telegraph says. “The Gurkha motto is ‘Better to die than be a coward.’”
Seems that he took that to heart that day.
Category: Real Soldiers, Terror War, The Warrior Code, War Stories
The Star and Crescent doesn’t frighten these guys either.
“The Gurkha motto is ‘Better to die than be a coward.’” Methis’ motto is: “Why try? Where’s the women n drugs?”
In 1967 I did a paper in my SE Asian History Class on my hero’s “The Gurkas”. The teacher, a Decorated Korean War Veteran, used my paper for years as a model. “Kappar Hune Bahandi Mani Ramro”…(after all these years I’m not positive that’s correct but I think it is phoenetic) “It is better to die than live as a coward”. I love the Kurkas and always tried to fight in Vietnam with that motto I learned as a senior in High School. Only after serving with a South Korean Infantry Regiment did I realize that the Gurkas had competition. A big AIRBORNE! salute to Sgt. Pun. Living proof of the honor these men live by…and die by. Oh, yeah, the Brits were never ever able to defeat them.
Honor and Courage!
“As he ran towards the Taliban fighter he gave a shout of “Marchu Talai” Nepalese for “I’m going to kill you.”
And you can bet the farm he did, too.
Outstanding job, Sergeant Pun!
Marchu Talai must rank as one of the most terrifying things to hear in a combat zone…