The President pointed out that through the reading of that story, a future generation, who love the motherland and loyal to the country, will be build and the true story of the thirty year long war, the background and the seed of the war can be correctly revealed to the world. He made these remarks addressing a ceremony to launch the book title ‘Uththamacharaya’ held at the BMICH,Wendsday (22).
Speaking further at the event, President Sirisena said that the experiences and the life stories of the War Hero to the Commanding Officers, is an excellent story of valiant warriors. The war heroes who are currently in the service recalled those memories of the past with an honour, and the President also said that the responsible persons should not be allowed to vanish with the end of their lives. President Sirisena said that the presentation of this kind of proud memories to the future generation is an honour to the war heroes who sacrificed their lives during 30 years of war.
The “Uththamacharaya” book was written as a biography of the heroic soldiers who were awarded by the “Parama Weera Wibhushana” medal. This medal is awarded to the soldiers who fought for the Motherland, without thinking about the hazards that can happen to their lives and giving consideration to the safety of their colleagues and the motives of their troops facing the enemy, independently exhibiting their heroism. This is considered the highest and the noblest award presented to the members of the armed troops. This has been awarded to 11 soldiers and another 19 members of other armed forces.
The 10th anniversary victory of the war falls this month and the “Uththamacharaya” book that reveals the heroic deeds of the armed forces for the future generations was released to mark this anniversary. After releasing the book, the president presented copies of the book to the close family members of the awardees. To mark this occasion a special stamp and a First Day Cover was presented to the President. The donation of Rs. 70 million presented to the Maharagama Apeksha hospital by the Armed forces and a cheque for this amount was officially presented to the President by the Army Commander Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake.
The Secretary of Defense and the chief of Security Council and heads of Tri Forces, senior officers of Tri Forces, retired armed officials, members of the families of the armed forces, were present at this event.Meanwhile, in order to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the victory, the President as the commander in chief, promoted 10 Brigadiers with outstanding service, to the rank of major General.