Captain Gurjinder Singh Suri was born on 4 July 1974 in Ambala, Haryana, into a distinguished military family. He was the son of Lieutenant Colonel T. P. Singh Suri and Smt. Surjit Kaur. His grandfather, Subedar Gurbaksh Singh, served with distinction during the Second World War and later in the 1947–48 and 1962 conflicts, while his father fought in the 1971 Indo-Pak War. Growing up in this environment, Gurjinder developed a strong desire to serve the nation through the Armed Forces.
He studied at various Army Public Schools across India before joining the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, in 1993. After completing training at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, he was commissioned into the Army Ordnance Corps on 7 June 1997. Although he wished to join the Sikh Light Infantry, he was allotted the Army Ordnance Corps and later attached to the 12th Battalion, The Bihar Regiment, where he commanded the elite Ghatak Platoon.
On 9 November 1999, following a Pakistani attack on Faulad Post in the Uri Sector, the Indian Army launched Operation Birsa Munda to eliminate enemy positions threatening the post. Captain Suri led the assault with exceptional courage. He personally neutralised enemy machine-gun positions, killed several enemy soldiers in close combat and continued advancing despite sustaining gunshot wounds. Even after being critically hit by an enemy rocket-propelled grenade, he refused evacuation and continued inspiring his men until he made the supreme sacrifice. Under his leadership, the assault force destroyed 14 enemy bunkers, eliminated 17 enemy soldiers and secured the objective.
For displaying extraordinary courage, inspirational leadership and supreme devotion to duty, Captain Gurjinder Singh Suri was posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra. He became the first officer of the Army Ordnance Corps to receive India's second-highest wartime gallantry award.