An official DoD article recounts the interesting story of Aroon Seeda, a 13-year-old Buddhist monk in training in 1988 who met a group of US Marines — and then decided he wanted to become one.

He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 2008 with the goal of becoming a chaplain. He received his citizenship several months after completing basic training and attained his goal in two years and seven months.

Chaplain Aroon Seeda is the only Buddhist chaplain in the Department of the Navy…

Now-Chaplain Seeda returned to Thailand recently in the latest iteration of the same exercise in which he first met the Marines, and he even found his grade school teacher he hadn’t seen in decades.

The article indicates Chaplain Seeda is currently pursuing his doctorate in theology, with his studies focusing on Buddhist principles as he’s applied them to troops and PTSD.

Though he wasn’t the first, Chaplain (LT) Seeda is now the only Buddhist chaplain in the Navy.

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