The young officer who was killed in sniper fire in Iraq will be cremated here with full US military honours. The funeral of Uday Singh (21) is likely to be attended by senior US officials, including a Brigadier General.Steven. J. Stoiber, military attache in the US Embassy who will camp here till cremation, said: ‘‘Bringing the body from the UK will take seven to 15 days. Negotiations with the Indian government in this regard are on.’’ The ashes will be buried at Arlington cemetery near Washington DC.The body will be embalmed after an autopsy, wrapped in a Class A uniform of the US Army and brought here with a US Army escort, he added. On the manner of Uday’s death, Steven said: ‘‘There is no clear-cut sequence of events. He was hit during a routine patrol and died on way to the hospital. The matter is under investigation.’’‘‘His grandfather Wg Com Karat Singh Tanque (retd) was proud of him. They were close,’’ says Uday’s father, Col P.M. Singh (retd). In 2000, the family went back to the US. ‘‘He told me he wanted to join the US Army. He was selected for the US Marines Recruiting Station and he wanted to join the combat arm. ’’ During training at Fort Knox, he told his father it was tough. ‘‘He topped his batch.” The day he arrived this February, the war started. ‘‘Take care while I go to save the whole world,’’ read his message to the family just before he left for Iraq.
