147 Officers and Other Ranks of SLA Awarded Gallantry Medals
2016-11-03Lieutenant General Crishanthe De Silva, the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army conferred medals for gallantry on 1000 Army personnel at a colourful ceremony held on 3 November 2016 at Army Indoor Gymnasium, Panagoda.
At the commencement of the ceremony, two minutes silence was observed in honour of the service personnel who have made the supreme sacrifice in the defence of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the motherland. Then the Commander of the Army conferred 300 Gallantry Medals for Army Officers, Other Ranks and next of kins of soldiers who were killed in action followed by awarding of medals for the rest of the heroes by their respective Colonel Commandants/Regimental Commanders and Council members.
Rana Wickrama Padakkama(RWP) and Rana Sura Padakkama (RSP) were awarded to recognize those who showed most conspicuous bravery and exceptional courage with act of valor in the presence of the enemy.
147 Officers and Other Ranks of the Regiment of Artillery were awarded gallantry medals at the ceremony. Among them 25 recipients of RWP and 122 recipients of RSP.
A large gathering of Officers, Other Ranks, relatives of fallen war heroes and several invitees presented at the ceremony.