Summary:
“During the 1971 war, I was attached with 14 squadron of the IAF. After capturing Jessore airfield in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan), we flew our fighter aircraft Hunters from the base,” wing commander Sartaj Singh Sasson (retired) said. Pune: The 35th course of the National Defence Academy (NDA) will celebrate the golden jubilee of its graduation on December 13 and 14.It was in December 1968 that the batch passed out of the Quarter Deck in slow march to the tune of ‘Auld Lang Syne’As many as 130 armed forces veterans and war widows will be present to mark the occasion. Prominent among course graduates are wing commander Rakesh Sharma (retired), the first Indian to travel to space; former chief of naval staff admiral Nirmal Varma; and former Nepal army general Rukmangad Katawal Chhetri.The veterans will pay homage to the martyrs at the hut of remembrance at NDA.Many members of the course also fought in the 1971 Indo-Pak war..