How an Armenian soldier saved the life of a future US Senator

Former US Senator Mark Kirk says he owes his life to an Armenian soldier. The American politician made the remark in his speech March 9 when the Armenian parliamentary delegation awarded Kirk with the Medal of Honor of the Armenian National Assembly in Washington D.C.

Many years ago when Mark Kirk visited Armenia as an ordinary staff member of the Congress, he went to the frontline to get acquainted with the situation, and if it weren’t for an Armenian soldier standing next to me, this could’ve been the last visit of the US politician, Voice of America reports.

“We were in a trench near Terter, we were looking at Azerbaijani positions. I mistakenly raised my head up and right at that moment I felt the hand of the Armenian soldier on my collar, who pulled me back. An Azerbaijani bullet passed through the very place were my head was seconds ago. The Armenian soldier saved my life, and it was a lesson for me that you can’t raise your head from a trench,” Mark Kirk said.

The Senator learned another lesson from this visit also. He emphasized that history has been unfair towards the Armenian people and that historic justice should be restored, firstly by recognizing the Armenian Genocide. “Who remembers the Armenians” – the Senator repeated the infamous statement of Adolf Hitler. “Who remembers the Armenians? I remember the Armenians, and none of us should forget the Armenian Genocide, the Armenian people, the wonderful, creative people,” Kirk said.

Bryan Ardouny, Executive Director of the Armenian Assembly of America, and Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee – two most important organizations of the Armenian community of the US, say that the volume of pro-Armenian work of Mark Kirk in the capacity of Senator was unprecedented.

Armenia’s Ambassador to the US Grigor Hovhannisyan thanked the US politician on behalf of Armenia.

“You have captured your unique place in our hearts, and we hope that Armenia has its place in yours,” the Ambassador said.

Upon bestowing Mark Kirk with the medal, Vice Speaker of Parliament Arpine Hovhannisyan said that many years ago when she was following Mark Kirk’s activities she couldn’t imagine that she would be the one awarding the medal to him.

“I couldn’t even dream about having the honor to award the Senator with his medal,” she said.

Upon knowing that Arpine Hovhannisyan is representing the Republican Party of Armenia, the party which holds majority in the parliament, the Senator, who is a Republican, immediately joked: “If things go bad in the US and Donald Trump’s Republican administration fails, we, US Republicans, will probably move to Armenia to request asylum.”