“When I look at his eyes, it seems to me that he wants to say something,” says the mother at her son’s grave, holding back her tears: she has lost her son in 44-Day War.
The silence of the military pantheon of Aparan is interrupted by the words of the parents addressed to their sons.
Most of the boys who died for the motherland are 18, 19 and 20 years old, and Lieutenant Colonel Vahagn Sargsyan is next to them, just like on the battlefield.
In a conversation with Forright.am, the parents tell that the lieutenant colonel was killed in Omar, in the Mrav mountain range, after taking a position of important combat significance.
Lieutenant Colonel Vahagn Sargsyan’s military career began in Karvachar, Omar. He served for 25 years in the mountainous areas of Artsakh and Armenia. After a long service, the lieutenant colonel had a well-deserved rest, but it lasted short period of time. In 2020, he returned to military service and went to Karvachar again. Less than a month after resuming to the service, the 44-Day War began.
“The war started. He went to Omar… I shouldn’t have let him go; I’m guilty. He went and did not return. He said, ‘I have to go, I am a soldier’,” said his mother, Rebeka Antonyan, in an interview with Forrights.am.
Lieutenant-Colonel Sargsyan received his military education at the Combined Forces Command Higher School in Saint Petersburg, then graduated from Yerevan Military University named after Vazgen Sargsyan. The mother says that her son was attentive to all the soldiers, he never lost sight of them.
“Omar’s commander left the arm and went away. He was in the office giving directions, but when he saw that the commander was not there, he said, how can I leave these 18-year-old boys alone?” says the mother, while the father, Ashot Sargsyan, adds: “Those children who were taken to positions, had no commander or officers with them, and he [his son] said, ‘Where are you taking them like this? He went with them’.”
The father says that his son was a most honest, sincere person, “not immersed into corruption. He served in the fields and died in the fields.”
Vahagn Sargsyan’s combat friends told the parents some details about the heroism of the lieutenant colonel. “His friends later told that he was injured in the arm. They wanted to take him down from positions, but he did not let them and did not leave. He said: “If my condition gets too bad, take out your weapon, shoot me, you go ahead; don’t leave your positions… An an unmanned aerial vehicle hit…” said the mother.
The parents learned about the death of their son by chance, from the list of victims published by the Ministry of Defense.
“Around two to three in the morning, the names of the dead were being announced. I suddenly heard my son’s name… I don’t know what was happening… I found out at night,” said the father.
Vahagn Sargsyan was posthumously awarded the “Combat Cross” medal of f1st degree.
Narek Kirakosyan
Narek Kirakosyan
Narek Kirakosyan is a journalist, works on the principle of "a person is an absolute value".