<p><strong>Defence Secretary Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa</strong></p>

<p>Mr. Rajapaksa joined Sri Lanka Army in 1971. He received extensive local and overseas training. He provided his astute leadership in many battles and served many top ranks of the <em>Gajaba</em> Regiment of the Army. He was awarded the medals <em>Ranavikrama</em> &amp; <em>Ranashuura</em> for his bravery and skills in the battlefront.</p>

<p><strong style="line-height:1.6em"><em>Army Commander, Gen. Sarath Fonseka</em></strong></p>

<p>Gen. Fonseka joined Sri Lanka Army in 1971. He received extensive local and overseas training. He provided his astute leadership in many battles and served many top ranks of the <em>Sinha</em> Regiment of the Army. He was awarded the medals <em>Ranavikrama</em> &amp; <em>Ranashuura Vishishta Seva Vibhushana Uttama Seva, Purnabhumi, Deshaputhra</em> and <em>Riviresa</em> for his bravery and skills in the battlefront. He was appointed Commander of the Sri Lanka Army on 6th December 2005. He was the first 4-star General in the country and was rated the Best Army Commander in the world.</p>

<p>He was a candidate for Presidency in 2010. However, he was stripped of his medals and title following a court-martial hearing.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong><em>Navy Commander, Admiral Wasantha&nbsp;Karannagoda</em></strong></p>

<p>Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda joined the Sri Lanka Navy in 1971. He received extensive local and overseas training. He provided his astute leadership in many battles and served many top ranks of the Navy. He was awarded the medals <em>Ranashuura, Vishishta Seva Vibhashana, Uttama Seva,Purnabhum</em> and <em>Riviresa</em> for his bravery and skills in the battlefront. He was appointed Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy on 1st September 2005.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong><em>Director General of Civil Defence Force Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera</em></strong></p>

<p>Director General of Civil Defence Force Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera joined the Sri Lanka Navy in 1971. He received extensive local and overseas training. He provided his astute leadership in many battles and served many top ranks of the Navy. He was awarded the medals <em>Ranavikrama, Uttama Seva</em> and <em>Purnabhumi</em> for his bravery and skills in the battlefront.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The list of brave Anandians given above is not exhaustive and does not do justice to all who sacrificed their lives and also survived the war. Sadly, it had to be limited just to the topmost ranks of armed forces, who put an end to the blood bath that had plagued the country for 3 decades.</p>

<p><span style="line-height:1.6em">The victory over the LTTE seemed to be based on the simple equation of finishing it within the least possible time, while inflicting maximum damage to the enemy and minimising damage to ourselves and safeguard civilians. The strategy no doubt helped maintain the morale of the army at high levels. It also minimised war related expenditure.</span></p>

<p><strong style="line-height:1.6em">Profiles of the Heroes </strong><em style="line-height:1.6em">(Wikipedia)</em></p>

<p><strong style="line-height:1.6em"><em>Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa</em></strong></p>

<p>Lieutenant Colonel (Ret). Nandasena Gotabhaya Rajapaksa (born 20 June 1949) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rana_Wickrama_Padakkama">RWP</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rana_Sura_Padakkama">RSP</a> is a retired officer of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka_Army">Sri Lanka Army</a> and the current <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_(Sri_Lanka)">Defence Secretary</a> of Sri Lanka. After serving through the early parts of the country&#39;s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Civil_War">civil war</a> with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_Tiger">Tamil Tiger</a> rebels, he retired from the Army in 1992. With the election of his brother <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahinda_Rajapaksa">Mahinda Rajapaksa</a> as President of Sri Lanka, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was appointed Defence Secretary in November 2005.</p>

<p>As Defence Secretary, Rajapaksa is largely credited with masterminding the successes achieved by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_Sri_Lanka">Sri Lankan Military</a> in defeating the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_Tigers">Tamil Tigers</a> and ending Sri Lanka&#39;s 25 year long civil war in May 2009. He was also one of the top targets of the Tamil Tigers, and survived an assassination attempt in December 2006 by a Tamil Tiger <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_bomber">suicide bomber</a>. He was conferred Doctor of Letters by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Colombo">University of Colombo</a> on September 6, 2009.</p>

<p><strong style="line-height:1.6em"><em>Early life and Family</em></strong></p>

<p>Gotabaya Rajapaksa was born in Palatuwa in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matara_District">Matara District</a>, and brought up in Weeraketiya in the southern rural <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Districts_of_Sri_Lanka">district</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hambantota">Hambantota</a>. He hails from a well-known political family in Sri Lanka. His father, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._A._Rajapaksa">D. A. Rajapaksa</a>, was a prominent politician, independence agitator, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_of_Parliament">Member of Parliament</a>, Deputy Speaker and a Cabinet Minister of Agriculture and Land. His uncle, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=D.M._Rajapaksa&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">D.M. Rajapaksa</a>, was a State Councilor for Hambantota in the 1930s. His brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa was first elected to parliament as a member of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka_Freedom_Party">Sri Lanka Freedom Party</a> at the age of 24 in 1970. He gradually rose through the ranks of the party, becoming opposition leader in 2001, Prime Minister in 2004 and the President of Sri Lanka in 2005. Two of his other brothers, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamal_Rajapaksa">Chamal Rajapaksa</a> was elected Speaker of the New Parliament in 2010, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_Rajapaksa">Basil Rajapaksa</a> is a Cabinet Minister in charge of Economic Development.</p>

<p><strong style="line-height:1.6em"><em>Military Career</em></strong></p>

<p>Mr. Rajapaksa joined the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka_Army">Sri Lanka Army</a> as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadet_Officer">Cadet Officer</a> on April 26, 1971. He was commissioned as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Lieutenant">Second Lieutenant</a> on May 25, 1972 and given his first command as an officer in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka_Signals_Corps">Ceylon Signals Corps</a>. Thereafter he served in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka_Sinha_Regiment">Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajarata_Rifles">Rajarata Rifles</a> before being transferred to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gajaba_Regiment">Gajaba Regiment</a> upon its formation in 1983 with the amalgamation of the Rajarata Rifles and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijayabahu_Infantry_Regiment">Vijayabahu Infantry Regiment</a>.</p>

<p><span style="line-height:1.6em">He rose up the ranks in the military, serving as the second in command of the 1st Gajaba Regiment and latter commanding the 1GR from 1983 - 1990. He served in the battlefronts of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffna" style="line-height: 1.6em;">Jaffna</a><span style="line-height:1.6em">, participating in </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Liberation" style="line-height: 1.6em;">Operation Liberation</a><span style="line-height:1.6em">, the offensive mounted to liberate </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vadamarachi" style="line-height: 1.6em;">Vadamarachi</a><span style="line-height:1.6em"> from </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LTTE" style="line-height: 1.6em;">LTTE</a><span style="line-height:1.6em"> in 1987. He also commanded the same battalion in Operation &quot;Strike Hard&quot; and Operation &quot;Thrivida Balaya&quot; in 1990. He was promoted to </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieutenant_Colonel" style="line-height: 1.6em;">Lieutenant Colonel</a><span style="line-height:1.6em">, and served as the Commandant of the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotelawala_Defence_Academy" style="line-height: 1.6em;">Kotelawala Defence Academy</a><span style="line-height:1.6em"> at the time of his retirement in 1992.</span></p>

<p><span style="line-height:1.6em">During his 20 years of military service, Rajapaksa has received awards for gallantry from three Presidents of Sri Lanka, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.R._Jayewardene" style="line-height: 1.6em;">J.R. Jayewardene</a><span style="line-height:1.6em">, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranasinghe_Premadasa" style="line-height: 1.6em;">Ranasinghe Premadasa</a><span style="line-height:1.6em"> and </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D.B._Wijetunga" style="line-height: 1.6em;">D.B. Wijetunga</a><span style="line-height:1.6em">. He had followed Signal Young Officers course in school of signals at Rawalpindi Pakistan, Infantry Company Commanders course in Quetta Pakistan, Jungle warfare and counter insurgency course in Assam, India, Command and Staff course at Defence Services Staff College in Welington, India and Advanced Infantry Officers course in fort Benning , Georgia, USA.</span></p>

<p><strong style="line-height:1.6em"><em>Life after retirement</em></strong></p>

<p>Upon his retirement from the Army after serving for 20 years, Rajapaksa obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Technology from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Colombo">University of Colombo</a> and was employed in the IT field of the local corporate sector. He later migrated to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_of_America">United States of America</a>, where he worked at Loyola Law School, 919, s. Albany street. Los Angeles, CA, Information Technology Department, as the UNIX Systems Administrator for more than eight years. Prior to joining Loyola he was at DTR Business Systems, Inc. Walnut, CA as UNIX systems integrator. In order to assist his brother&#39;s Presidential election campaign, Rajapaksa returned to Sri Lanka in 2005. He has a US Green card.</p>

<p><strong style="line-height:1.6em"><em>Secretary to the Ministry of Defence</em></strong></p>

<p>Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was appointed to the post of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permanent_Secretary">Permanent Secretary</a> of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_(Sri_Lanka)">Ministry of Defence</a> in November <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005">2005</a> by newly elected President Mahinda Rajapaksa. In this capacity he oversaw the military operation which eventually defeated the LTTE in May, 2009 after 25 years of fighting.</p>

<p><strong style="line-height:1.6em"><em>Attempted assassination</em></strong></p>

<p>On 1st December 2006, at approximately 10:35 an assassin attempted to drive an explosive laden <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto_rickshaw">auto-rickshaw</a> into Rajapaksa&#39;s motorcade as it traveled through Kollupitiya, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombo">Colombo</a>. The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka_Army_Commando_Regiment">Sri Lanka Army Commandos</a> guarding him obstructed the vehicle carrying the explosives before it reached Rajapakse&#39;s vehicle and two commandos were instantly killed. Rajapaksa however escaped unhurt. The LTTE were blamed for the attack.&nbsp;</p>
