By Dhaneshi Yatawara
Our strength is the brave, courageous, dedicated force of men who are
ready to make the supreme sacrifice with their lives when the motherland
is threatened by the enemy.
With their unquestioned devotion to their fellow citizens and the
country, these battle hardened men, our brave soldiers of the Sri Lanka
Army, made an inspirational contribution to the modern history of our
motherland.
 They are the defenders of Sri Lanka's unity, sovereignty and
territorial integrity. The evolution of modern Army, from a Ceremonial
Army to a battle hardened strong force is historical. Their selfless
sacrifices gave full meaning to the independence of our state.
The Army was born at the dawn of Ceylon independence. In 1948 came
Ceylon independence, and in 1949 the Army Act was passed by the
parliament raising Ceylon's Army, composed of Regular and Volunteer
Forces. Many of the old units of the Volunteer Force still exist in the
Army except a few which were disbanded time to time.
Considering the entire history, the separatist war started by the
LTTE that converted in to a massive terrorist menace, greatly obstructed
the development of the country. The defenders of the nation valiant sons
of the Sri Lanka Army launched many major operations against the LTTE.
From the Operation Liberation launched to wrest control of the
Vadamarachchi area in Jaffna till the last Operation that wiped out
terrorism from this land, main target of the Army was to save innocent
human beings.
These brave young men and women lost their lives and limbs in trying
to save innocent Tamil civilians. The courage and morale of our battle
hardened soldiers to go forward, while their colleagues on either side
die or get wounded, is extraordinary.
Victory is not impossible with such men. Under bloodiest conditions
our valiant soldiers flushed out terrorism from this island nation
without leaving a single trace.
Their blood, toil and tears will nurture our land and their last
breath blown in the wind will bring the fresh fragrance of peace and
serenity. |
