Smriti Singh, the widow of Captain Anshuman Singh of the Army Medical Corps along with his mother received the Kirti Chakra President Droupadi Murmu on Friday on behalf of of Singh for his bravery during Siachen fire incident in July, 2023.
Smriti Singh spoke to the Ministry of Defence on Friday after the award ceremony and elaborated on her love story with her husband. The video has gone viral on social media as it holds emotions and vulnerability along with the brave tale of the soldier quite similar to the stories narrated in movies.
Singh recalled that Captain Anshuman singh once told her, "I would die with the brass on my chest. I would not die an ordinary death."
Speaking to the camera, Smriti Singh said, "We met on the first day of college. I don't want to be dramatic but it was love at first sight. After a month, he got selected into the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC). We met at an engineering college but then he got selected in a medical college. Super intelligent guy. From then on, after just one month of meeting, it was a long-distance relationship for eight long years."
Singh shared that they got married soon but only two months into their union Captain got posted in Siachen.
Further Singh spoke about the day before she lost him, she said, "On July 18, we had a long conversation about how our life would be in the next 50 years. On July 19 morning, I got a call that he is no more."
She added, "For the next 7-8 hours we were not ready to accept that anything of such sort has happened."
"Now that I have the Kirti Chakra in my hand, maybe it is true. But it's okay, he's a hero. We can manage a little of our lives. He has given all his life to save other families, his army family," Singh said towards the end.
Captain Singh, serving as a medical officer with 26 Punjab in the Siachen Glacier area, faced a critical situation on July 19, 2023.
A fire broke out due to a short circuit in an Indian Army ammunition dump around 3 am.
Spotting a fibreglass hut ablaze, Captain Singh swiftly sprang into action to rescue several trapped individuals. Despite successfully saving four to five people, the fire spread to a nearby medical investigation room shortly after and he went back to the structure.
Captain Singh unfortunately could not escape from the blazing structure and was trapped before he succumbed.
Captain Singh was laid to rest with full state honours in Bhagalpur, located in Deoria district of Uttar Pradesh, on July 22, 2023.
