Dipprasad Pun

The Acting Sergeant Pun (http://nbnl.globalwhelming.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/gurkha-pun.jpg (Unknown))

My hero is Dippradsad Pun of the 1st Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles He is 32 years old and was born in Nepal, he is currently living the town of Ashford, in Kent. He is a hero because he has saved many lives. As a member of the British Armed Forces he has already trained hard for the honor to call himself a Gurkha and the NATO forces owe him a debt of gratitude for his heroic deeds on his second tour in Afghanistan.

On the night of 17 September 2010, he was near a place called Babji, in the province of Helmand and was guarding a checkpoint a ways from his unit's compound. He heard some disturbance outside and went to go and check, thinking it was either a cow or an ox. It turned out to be two Taliban fighters planting an I.E.D (Improvised Explosive Device) just outside his compound. He called out for the insurgents to identify themselves. Their only response was to reportedly jump back yet keep digging. Then Pun heard shots fired from multiple directions.

His first instinct was to climb to the top of the observation tower for a better vantage point. After doing so, he made no hesitation in picking up the anti-personnel machine gun and defending the outpost with three other soldiers inside. Pun believed himself to be doomed but his mentality at that point in time was: 'I thought I was going to die...' He immediately began shooting at and killing some of the insurgents around him. At some point afterward Pun had exhausted his ammunition, but he was still determined to finish the job before he died.

He grabbed a box of grenades, using 17 to scare off even more fighters. One more tried to climb the tower, and reached where Pun was dug in. Pun picked up his rifle to retaliate but it had jammed, So Pun picked up the 20 pound gun tripod and slung it into the face of the insurgent, throwing him off the tower. He then detonated an explosive mine, scaring off the remaining insurgents.

Pun was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross by her royal majesty, the Queen. This is the second highest honor available to UK servicemen.

I think that Pun is a hero because of his displayed selflessness in the face of what certain death. He saved the lives of three servicemen inside the compound, repelled 30 Taliban with no more than four hundred rounds of ammunition, seventeen grenades and a claymore mine, as well as a machine gun tripod. He is still with the armed forces today.