Lt Gen Madan Mohan Lakhera (retd), who passed away on June 29, was closely associated with the illustrious 4 Kumaon Regiment, one of the Army's oldest and most distinguished infantry battalions. The unit earned India's first Param Vir Chakra through Major Somnath Sharma during the 1947 Kashmir operations and spearheaded Operation Meghdoot, becoming first to entrench on Siachen Glacier in 1984.