Sikh Army Officer's Battle to Reclaim His Religious Identity
#sikh #military #usarmy #beallyoucanbe
Simratpal "Simmer" Singh was born and raised on a farm in Punjab, a state in the northwestern part of India. At the age of 9, he and his family immigrated to the United States, initially to the Bay Area in California, and then eventually relocated to Kent, Washington for his remaining years of middle school and high school.
At the time of his enrollment to West Point in 2006, when Sikhs were not allowed to practice their religion by wearing their articles of faith in the U.S. military, he made the devastating decision to remove his turban and have his hair and beard shaved. In the face of adversity, he resolved to one day restore his articles of faith and his identity once again. Simmer graduated and commissioned as an engineer with honors from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 2010.
Upon graduation, he rose through the ranks, earning his Ranger tab in 2012, and deployed to Kandahar Province in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. As a route clearance platoon leader, he led a team that cleared IEDs and ultimately received a Bronze Star Medal. In 2015, Simmer attended a Vaisakhi celebration at the Pentagon where he met a few other observant Sikh service members who had successfully integrated into the U.S. Army with their articles of faith. After nearly a decade, Simmer began pursuing a path once again to regain his articles of faith.
Watch the full interview here: • 011 Long Gray Lessons with Active Duty Sik...
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