Greetings, soldier!

We don’t know each other, but I know a lot about you.

For example, I know that you have a busy schedule, that a military uniform suits you a lot, that you wear it proudly and that you have already gotten used to “speaking” to your weapon informally. I also know that being a soldier is not easy and that being ready for combat is not easy either. Perhaps that is why they say military service turns a young boy into a grown man. In school we are taught that a soldier needs to be disciplined, physically fit, strong, ready for combat and smart. We are also taught that a soldier needs to have strong willpower to resist the trials and tribulations.

You are definitely that kind of a person since you are one of the soldiers in whose veins runs the blood of Vardan. Why only Vardan? It is the dream of the best sons of the Armenian nation of all centuries to maintain our army, and they are ready to lead a struggle for life or death to keep that dream alive.

They say every generation has a war to fight in. Our fathers fought in the war for Artsakh, and it so happened that the liberating army of the Armenian nation became so close and familiar to us that it makes us want to cry. The Armenian Army is my father who was wounded on the battlefield, my brother whom we saw off to military service two days ago, my sister’s boyfriend who sends her letters from the army every week, the six boys of our yard who left for the battlefield during the days of war and weren’t afraid of the enemy…

I know that you have many dreams and are rushing to complete your service and return home so that you can continue your studies, build your home and make your girlfriend happy, the girlfriend whose letters you keep under your pillow and read secretly every night. You don’t like to talk about the fact that you have looked into the eyes of death, and when the enemy’s gunshot has struck your friend, you have become stronger, and your heart has burnt with revenge. I know that you are just and devoted, and if you need to go to war, it will be a sacred war since your sole purpose will be to protect and maintain the homeland. And even though you don’t like to show your strength on every occasion, I believe in your strength.

They say one must swear only three times in life, and there are three oaths that are pleasing to God:

-love and obey your parents,

-keep your family strong,

-serve the homeland and build the country unconditionally.

Whereas people whisper the first two oaths in a voice that only they can hear, they can say the last oath to their commanders (and the world) and live their entire lives by staying true to that oath.

Dear brother (allow me to call you that), I know that you will go and die for your country as soon as you receive the call. I won’t be afraid either, if (God forbid) the homeland is in danger. We won’t show fear since we become strong through Hayk Nahapet, Ara Geghetsik and Tigran the Great.

We have something new to say to the world. For that, we need to live and become strong. May our army and God be with us.

Stay strong, my brother.

I hug and kiss you.

Your younger friend and future soldier,

Karen Hakobyan, 17 years old

P.S.: I apologize for the rhetoric in my letter. I simply get excited whenever I talk about the Armenian army.

I am sending my grandmother’s dried fruits and the sweet bread that my sisters made. I am sure you will like them.

28 January 2017

Moscow

Source: Hayern Aysor