MUSHKOH VALLEY, JULY 13: Even the Gods cried as the bodies of the soldiers killed repulsing Pakistan's counter-assault in the Mushkoh Valley were brought down to the base camp on Saturday night.Tears, mingled with rain, rolled down the cheeks of battle-hardened soldiers, as blood and rain water made a puddle on the ground. The brave Rashtriya Rifles. Grenadiers, Sikh and Naga soldiers had been fighting at altitudes well above 16,000 feet at peaks surrounding Mushkoh Valley.A soldier, whose body was brought down, was still clutching a grenade, his fingers curled around the pin. He had been shot in the chest. His buddy carefully pried the grenade out of his fingers and wept. Silently. Still not willing to believe that his buddy was dead, the soldier tucked the brown blanket tighter around the body.The rain increased and the soldier took the body inside the waiting truck. Soldiers and officers saluted the truck which displayed a black flag signifying that the body of a martyred soldier was passing.Such was the josh that a bleeding soldier, injured by a splinter that hit his leg, insisted that he would go back and fight. ``The task given by the commander is still not complete. I have to go back,'' he insisted. A hospital assistant gave him a sedative.Despite being drenched, the doctor and the medical assistants worked on the injured, and though light was fast fading behind the gigantic peaks, helicopters flew low, zigzagging along the posts of Mushkoh Nullah, landing briefly to pick to casualties and then flying back to Drass.The mood in the Army base was sombre even as officers tried to encourage the men who were depressed, ``Boys, you cannot let their sacrifice go in vain. Chin up! Yu have to finish the unfinished task. And remember, it is for your tomorrow that they gave their today,'' said an officer.Equally tough was the job of the brigade clerk. Despite being with the Army for three decades, his fingers shook and his eyes blurred as he listed, almost non-stop, the names, ranks and the bravery of the dead soldiers.
