Sgt. Uday Singh was on patrol in Habbinayah, Iraq Dec. 1 when an enemy ambush took his life.

Singh, an armor crewman with the 1st Battalion, 34th Armored Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, was honored posthumously in a Jan. 12 ceremony in which his parents accepted the Meritorious Service Medal and the Purple Heart on his behalf.

“He was a courageous young boy and the Army was in his blood, and he died with honor,’’ said his mother, Manjit Singh.

Singh’s father, Preet Singh, is a colonel in the Indian Army. The parents flew in from India to accept the awards. Col. Singh spent time with Soldiers that knew his son at a luncheon, thanking them for their service and the friendship they had with his son.