LOVING THE MOTHERLAND MORE THAN LIFE

“Captain Vazgen Kirakosyan is one of our best officers, a true devotee of his job,” this is how friends describe Vazgen Kirakosyan, the battery commander of the artillery division. – During the 44-day war his battery worked perfectly, hitting the enemy’s targets with maximum accuracy.

Vazgen grew up in a military family, his father is a reserve major.

They lived in Vanadzor. From an early age he was fascinated by the proud, tough posture of the military, the shining stars on his shoulders. After graduating from school, he and three friends decided to enter the Vazgen Sargsyan Military University. The military father advised to think long and hard when choosing a profession, explained that not everything is brilliant behind shiny shoulders, that there are many difficulties along the way, enormous responsibility, toil, pain, bitterness, losses, that service takes the lion’s share of time, and You often do not even manage to spend time with your family …

But Vazgen was firm in his decision.

– He studied well at the military institute, but it is one thing to apply purely theoretical knowledge, it is another thing to apply it in practice. An officer is stationed in the army when he is directly involved in the case. To be honest, it was quite difficult in the beginning. It was not easy to lead soldiers almost your age, sometimes even older than you, with different mindsets and mentalities, different levels of education and upbringing, but all the difficulties are overcome over time.

Years brought experience. Over the years, the number of stars on the shoulder straps increased, as did the responsibility.

***

The young officer served in different parts of the front line, was involved in the fighting, participated in the July and April hostilities and the 44-day war.

– This last war differed from April in terms of scale, intensity of battles and military equipment used. The enemy outnumbered the active support from Turkey, plus mercenaries. It was an unequal battle, but regardless of this ratio of forces, the spirituality of our soldiers, the determination to fight was immeasurable, you would not see a depressed, desperate soldier. The 18-20-year-old boys had not seen a war, but were fighting with the courage of a soldier cooked in battle. They were fighting with jokes, singing, humor on their lips … We had seen on the Internet when the enemy was firing, we were saying fire, and shooting, they were saying “dash” when shooting. When we were already filling up, I said to my soldiers with a laugh, 10 “dash” …

The target was hit, we did not see the immediate result, but when they called, they said, live, it is very good, how excited the soldiers were, they always wanted to shoot.

A smile appears on Vazgen’s face, he remembered another “gunpowder” humor.

– The more we fired, the more the enemy drones flew in our direction to silence us and put pressure on us. Chief of Staff, Major Vahram Sarukhanyan was calling: Vazgen, be careful, the drones have come out, they are circling, they are looking for you.

The voice of the drones was loud, ear-splitting, the chief of staff was joking with my soul, “Stop it, Vazgen, I’m already telling you to calm down.”

“Well, tell me what to do, my head is gone,” I joked.

The young soldier recalls different events and episodes from the war days. In war, as in life, smiles and tears are intertwined.

-Unfortunately, the war does not happen without losses, victims, wounded .. I did not have a loss during the April war, I had time during this fight. Two soldiers were killed in my battery: Davit Hakobyan and Narek Manukyan. The loss of every soldier is an unspeakable pain for the commander, a pain that never heals … After being discharged from the hospital, I visited the parents of my dead sons, on vacation and demobilization, our soldiers definitely visit the graves of their fallen comrades, their parents, they also visit to wounded friends …

Vazgen himself was severely wounded on the battlefield. The boys of the battery told how their commander called a completely bloody ambulance by radio, then he helped to place the wounded soldiers in the ambulance, they also told how they forced Vazgen into the ambulance, otherwise he would have bled, but he was bleeding to the end. The moment was persistent, trying to give up my soldiers, how can I leave them alone …

After receiving first aid at Ishkhanadzor hospital, Vazgen was taken to Sisian hospital. The housewives did not even know how to be wounded, and his mind was on the soldiers fighting under the torrent of fire.

– I was in constant contact with my boys, I was calling, they were calling, Mr. Captain, we are shooting at your place. I said, be careful, be careful, nothing will happen to you alone. Thank God, we did not have any casualties … Our battery showed well in the war, my soldiers were able to fight on their own after I was wounded, they are so skilled. so professional, literate and systematic that no one could have imagined that they were operating without an officer. “My crew was prepared,” the captain did not hide his pride.

The captain does not say that all this was the result of daily hard and consistent work, although everything is self-evident, the war was a “test”…

– Every day we aim to improve our professional knowledge. Being armed with military knowledge inspires confidence, courage and perseverance, my soldier knows that he should not fail to learn, his seemingly insignificant mistake can be decisive on the battlefield.

Captain Vazgen Kirakosyan’s battery is still among the best in the military unit.

***

Captain Kirakosyan served in different service units, no matter what military unit he moved to, no matter where he was located in the border area, his family was always by his side.

– My wife is a teacher, she taught Russian at a local school during my service in Jrakan.

Vazgen has two children, a daughter and a son.

“My son also wants to go our way, to become a soldier,” says the captain. – When he grows up a little, I will talk to my son, like my father used to, I will try to explain that as honorable and noble as the work of the Defender of the Fatherland is, it is just as difficult and heavy, responsible, full of deprivations, losses Not everything is brilliant behind the shoulders, the military job is not an ordinary job that starts and ends at the set time, it requires self-sacrifice and, most importantly, the homeland should be loved as much as life and … more than life …

By ALIS ALAVERDYAN

Photos by AREG VARDANYAN