This dad’s little boys slept peacefully in Fresno. But not so the young men in Armenia
Ask my wife and she’ll tell you I can fall asleep anywhere and at anytime. Ask my kids and they will tell you “baba” snores. In my defense, I’m an early riser and keep my day busy, so at night I’m exhausted.
As easy as it typically is to fall asleep, one night recently was different. That night I tossed, I turned and eventually ended up in the room with my kids. Their blankets were off, so I tucked them in and watched them sleep. They looked like comfy baby lions snuggled up. I can’t imagine what life would be like if I were to lose any of them.
That night was the screening of “45 Days,” the highly anticipated documentary about the recent war in Nagorno-Karabakh waged by Azerbaijan with aid and equipment from Turkey, Pakistan, and Israel. To add to this team, the Azeris brought in Syrian mercenaries to fight against the small army of Nagorno-Karabakh backed by Armenia. With major forces against them, the Armenians (Nagorno-Karabakh has been historic Armenia and is full of ethnic Armenians) were supposed to lose the war within two days; instead they fought for 45.
Eventually, a Russian backed ceasefire was signed. The United States and all the other major powers did nothing as oil rich Azerbaijan kept pounding the mostly young Armenian soldiers.
The filming of this documentary was done by former elite Royal Marine Commando turned journalist Emile Ghessen, who heard about the war and decided to cover it because no major media outlet was on it. The Armenian side welcomed him, while the Azerbaijani side shut him and other international journalists out. No surprise, as Azerbaijan is a dictatorship where a husband is president and his wife is vice president.
We made the trek to the historic and beautiful Tower Theatre in Fresno, where an eager crowd was waiting to watch the story. The opening act was a live performance by a former Armenian soldier who fought in the war. He had a powerful voice and touching lyrics, and tears began to flow from the eyes of those in attendance. Then came the documentary, which included many touching stories. Some will stay with me forever.
A few examples:
▪ A dentist made it to the front lines to fight alongside his son. During battle, he witnessed the dying of his son, who was a singer prior to the war. In his honor, a water fountain was built in the small city he was from.
▪ A small group of volunteers consisting of cooks, mechanics, artists and other professions fought on the front lines to protect their homeland. They were angry when the ceasefire was signed and were ready to die to defend what were historically Armenian lands and the places of their forefathers.
▪ Perhaps most familiar to the crowd of largely Fresnans was a scene from the first war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the 1990s. The scene featured Monte Melkonian, who was born in Visalia and was a commander for the Armenian Army. He died in battle and is still remembered today.
The morning of the film screening, I dropped my 7-year old and 5-year old little lions off at their school. They ran to the school’s gate with their backpacks and water bottles bouncing on their backs. As I watched them running in innocence, I thought about the 3,781 real lions who gave their lives defending our homeland. Those courageous and mostly teenage souls were outnumbered and outmatched. Turkish and Israeli drones were a difficult obstacle to overcome, but they fought until the end. They’ll never celebrate birthdays with friends and family, nor will they have the privilege to tuck their kids in bed again.
Just like the opening singer’s lyrics so accurately said, “The boys fell, cast onto the mountains, with the hopes of preserving, proud homeland.”
A silver lining to this sad and heartbreaking story is that Armenia celebrated its 30th anniversary a few days after the showing. The Fresno County Board of Supervisors and the Fresno City Council honored the anniversary of Armenia, a small landlocked unimportant country with people who have contributed so much to better the world you and I live in.
Sevag Tateosian of Fresno is host and producer of San Joaquin Spotlight airing on CMAC Fresno/Clovis, TalkRadio 1550 KXEX and Anchor FM podcast. He is also a volunteer for the Armenian National Committee of America–Central California.
