“Narek, you have won, and you have won not just the war; you have defeated death, you have defeated this world, do you hear me? My hero, you are not dead, you are immortal… Glory to you, traveler to eternity!”

Narek Sahakyan was from Yerevan. He was energetic, kind young man, much loved by everyone.

It was January when Narek was drafted into the army. According to his cousin Liana, he was preparing to leave to defend the borders of the homeland with great enthusiasm and pride. He was upset when he heard about boys avoiding the service: ‘If I do not go, if the other one does not go, who will go, to whom should we leave our lands?’ he said.”

“He did not like to say that he was going to pay his debt to the homeland. Serving for the homeland was not a duty for him; it was another, a noble thing, which, perhaps, we will not understand,” Liana told Forrights.

He had served for nine months, and, according to his sister, had never complained about anything, only once he asked the family to send some clothes, because “he became a man, gained muscle from training, his clothes became smaller.”

After the large-scale military operations started on September 27, Narek was almost unable to contact his family. The last time he talked to his aunt was on October 18․ He did not say much, asked not to ask for details, as the enemy could hear them.

“He just said, ‘I’m fine, don’t worry, I’m being transferred to another place’. After that, he called his friend once again on the 20th of the month and that was it. On October 25, they said, “Your son was killed.”

He had many goals he wanted to fulfil after returning from the army. He wanted to continue his unfinished education…

“My brother did not like to talk about the future, he did not even plan for tomorrow. He dreamed of having many children. He had many goals, dreams, his future was still ahead,” says the sister with pain.

Narek would have turned 19 on November 5.

Roza Vardanyan

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