Kathiria arrived in the United States of America in June 2003 with dreams of making it big in the software industry. But even as a trained software engineer he found it difficult making a start. The army appeared to him a quick way of acquiring citizenship and earning money to send home to his family in Gujarat.
Kathiria's family were not comfortable with his joining the army but he showed promise right from the beginning. Within a month of his arriving in the US, he was on basic training. His uncle Naruddin Kathiria of Fort Worth said he was a bright, energetic and ambitious young man.
Kathiria is not the first Indian in the US military who has lost his life in the line of duty. On December 1, 2003, US trooper Uday Singh fell in an ambush near Baghdad. Uday was from Chandigarh.
US trooper Uday Singh wanted to save the world
Kathiria was to return home on leave a month later. His body will be sent back to India and buried in his hometown of Dahod, Gujarat after a military service in Washington. He is survived by his father, mother, and two sisters.