Before launch of Bangladesh campaign there was a need for a successful military operation.
To do this it was decided that troops would be air dropped.
But the problem was that troops were required in large numbers,and the men who were qualified in para jumping were not enough. To overcome the shortage of men it was decided by then general of Indian army later known as Field Marshal Sam Manakshew to pick up the bravest soldiers who could do this operation even without training. The bravest soldiers are from the Gorkha unit .
Thus the general addressed a large gathering of Gorkha troops telling them about the gravity of situation and how they would have to “jump off from a aircraft in enemy territory”.
But even after giving a motivating speech only 17 men out of a gathering of a thousand plus agreed to do so. This disheartened the general who himself was from a Gorkha unit and he felt that either he could not motivate his men or they were afraid.
Just to give it a last try he gave a demonstration to the the men about how a para jump is done, details on wearing a parachute,how it is opened etc.
After that he again asked for a show of hands from all those who would volunteer to go for the operation.
This time he was amazed to see all men with their hands raised. The general was extremely pleased to see this ........patting himself for giving such a successful motivational speech the general asked one of the Gorkha soldier's "were you afraid earlier?" …to which soldier promptly replied “no sir we were not afraid, but we did not know that we had to jump wearing the parachute. That is why only 17 men opted to jump.Had we known we have to jump with parachute we all would have said yes the first time itself”.
It was a big question even to the general .... what had those 17 men thought before opting for an operation where they were willing to jump from aircraft even without a parachute??…Bravest of the brave the Gorkha.
Bravo!
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