Major Mahesh Karki and Capt Amit Kumar, both residents of Uttarakhand, were on leave when the tragedy struck the state and they could not hold themselves back. Karki, of the Gorkha Rifles, was on leave in his native state when the floods hit on June 15. He was driving from Dehradun to Badrinath with his wife, two kids and mother-in-law in his vehicle when they got caught in heavy rains at Karnaprayag.u00a0

They still went ahead and reached Joshimath the next evening, where, they found the road had collapsed and were told to turn back, a defence spokesman said here. "The officer had two choices. Either he could return and drive himself and his family to the safety or do something for the 25 people who were struck on the other side of the road," the spokesman said.