1. Congratulations to Anmol Kaur Narang, 23, a newly minted second lieutenant, who has made history by becoming the first observant Sikh to graduate from the US Military Academy at West Point.

2. A second-generation Indian American born and raised in Roswell, Georgia, Narang had an early appreciation for military service due to her maternal grandfather’s career in the Indian army.

3. After a gradually growing interest in military service during high school, she began her application for West Point the afternoon after her family visited Pearl Harbor National Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii.

4. Anmol (which literally means 'priceless') attended one year of undergraduate study at the Georgia Institute of Technology before transferring to West Point, where she proceeded to study nuclear engineering and pursue a career path in air defense systems.

5. Congress passed a law in 1987 that prohibited Sikhs and other religious communities from maintaining their articles of faith while in the military. A Sikh's visible articles of faith, including turbans and unshorn facial hair, were banned.

6. Narang required no accommodation for her articles of faith, but the Sikh Coalition said “her exemplary service to date underscores how diversity and pluralism remain core strengths of the U.S. military and the country as a whole.''

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One should never stereotype communities, but I believe it's okay to stereotype positively out of respect and affection.

Sikhs are some of the best warriors in the world, and there is no better friend to have than a Sikh -- fiercely loyal and most dependable in hard times.

1. A Little Background on Sikhs and Sikhism

While often confused with Muslims in the West, b/c of facial hair, here's the irony. Sikhism was founded in response to religious persecution by Islamic rulers, after gurus were tortured and executed for refusing to convert to Islam.

2. The persecution of Sikhs by Islamic rulers triggered the founding of the Khalsa (the company of fully initiated Sikhs, to which devout orthodox Sikhs are ritually admitted at puberty) as an order to protect the freedom of conscience and religion.

3. The Khalsa was founded in 1699 by the last Guru (Gobind Singh). Members show their allegiance by five signs (called the five Ks): kangha (comb), kara (steel bangle), kesh (uncut hair, covered by a turban, and beard), kirpan (short sword) and kuccha (short trousers).

4. Useful Heuristic on Facial Hair

[How to tell the difference between a Sikh and a Muslim from facial hair]

Razors/scissors never touch a Sikh's face/neck. Muslims often shave a part of the face/neck and/or trim mustache.

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And by the way, Nikki Haley (birth name: Nimrata Nikki Randhawa) comes from a Sikh family. She converted to Christianity in 1997.

Nikki is a common Punjabi nickname for little girls. It literally means 'little one.'