These are the words of Rifleman Sanjay Kumar, who has set an example for everyone aspiring to join the armed forces. Subedar Sanjay Kumar hails from a village in Bilaspur District of Himachal Pradesh. His family comes from an army background. His uncle had served the Indian army in the 1965 Indo-Pak war. Coming from a fairly poor family, Sanjay could only complete his secondary education as his parents could not afford to educate him further.

The need to earn a living made him come to New Delhi to drive a taxi . Even while working as a taxi driver, he was determined to join the Indian army. His journey towards becoming an army soldier had some roadblocks. Initially he did not get selected but did not give up. He tried and finally in his fourth attempt, got selected to join the Indian army in the year 1996. His service number is 13760533.

Kumar was a part of the 13th Battalion, Jammu & Kashmir Rifles and was appointed as the scout leader of a team which was assigned the mission of capturing Area Flat Top during the Kargil War. This happened on the 4th of July, 1999. Soldiers from Pakistan had occupied the area. The team climbed the cliff but was under machine gun fire from a bunker about 150 meters away.

Leaders notice what others may not and are ready to risk their lives for the victory of the team. Kumar sensed that the enemy fire could pose a threat to the mission and went up all by himself, along one side and ran towards the enemy bunker, despite the constant firing. Two bullets hit his chest and forearm during this courageous effort and he was heavily injured and bleeding.

Even though he was injured, he was persistent in his actions and continued to tread towards the enemy bunker. He killed three Pakistani soldiers through a melee attack or hand-to-hand combat. He then picked up the universal machine gun(UMG) of the soldier and crawled to another enemy bunker. The enemy troops did not expect this. Some enemy soldiers trying to escape their post were killed when Sanjay fired towards them. Through his great courage and valor, he ended up inspiring the rest of the platoon as they succeeded in their mission to capture Area Flat Top.

Currently, Subedar Sanjay Kumar is a Junior Commissioned Officer in the Indian Army and one of the three living recipients of the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military award. Kumar was offered a job by the Himachal Pradesh Government, and may accept this offer after completing his fifteen years service in the army. Kumar's story along with others who were part of the same conflict was portrayed in the film LOC Kargil, in which his character was played by famous Bollywood actor Sunil Shetty.