A funny thing happened to Angele Manoogian on her way to Yerevan last month. Not only was her flight re-routed to Warsaw—that’s Poland!—but her luggage didn’t arrive until a week later.
“Try living out of a carry-on and you get the picture,” she laughed, condoning such a calamity. “Somehow it always works out.”
Manoogian was in Armenia on Sept. 18 to attend a Pan Armenian International Meeting as an ARF Eastern Regional delegate, joined by Dr. Ara Chalian and Sevan Keolejian.
The group got caught up in a strike by Air France and lingered through delays at the airport, losing two days of their scheduled trip.
A prestigious medal from the Artsakh Freedom Fighters Organization came as a complete surprise. Manoogian received the tribute for services rendered during the Artsakh conflict while providing ARS aid in that battle-scarred region during the 1990’s.
The presentation came from the Ministry of Karabagh and was made by Harmik Hovsepyan, a freedom fighter, as Armenian Relief Society (ARS) members from Armenia looked on and applauded their venerable peer.
Neither event had anything to do with the other. When word got out that Manoogian would be a convention delegate, plans were made to recognize her work in Artsakh.
In a prepared statement, it read: “We congratulate you, ungerouhi. Artsakhtsis will never forget your service.”
Many recall the visits Manoogian made to Karabagh and the field trips that were often under siege, given the Azeri push. She rode the military trucks delivering food and visited the hospitals, bringing comfort to the maimed and consoling survivors.
She stayed at the Red Cross and inside people’s homes, amazed by the extreme hospitality in conditions that were intolerable. The thought of becoming a victim never crossed her mind.
True, she was representing her beloved ARS, but Manoogian often went beyond the call of duty—and that was reiterated during the award presentation by members like Vicky Marashlian and Hovsepyan himself. The mission often took on a personal agenda.
When news of the award reached the ARS Eastern Region, members here joined in the celebration and shared the notoriety with their esteemed associate.
Ironically, both Manoogian and traveling companion Keolejian made a trip out to Artsakh to view the situation, visiting the ARS’s Sosseh kindergarten in Stepanakert that is being rebuilt and outlying villages where displaced Syrian Armenians have settled.
“After 20 years of liberation, the children in those kindergartens are being well attended,” she reported. “The schools are fully staffed and many students will ultimately go on to higher education, thanks to ARS support.”
The medal followed—a coup de grace from the entire trip. And it took the recipient by storm as someone who has always given back, not accepted. What’s more, the medal was pressed from bullets fired by Azeri rifles.
Manoogian was shocked. She didn’t know what to say. Instead, she cried a tear.
“When you do a job for someone or your country, it comes back,” she pointed out. “I feel honored, not for myself, but for my precious organizations.”
Manoogian has been an executive member of both organizations since 1968, sharing an allegiance to the ARF and ARS that remains unquenchable. She chaired the ARS Eastern Region’s Centennial in 2010 and currently heads up a committee for the anniversaries of the Armenian Weekly and Hairenik Weekly, capped by a reception Oct. 26 in Greater Boston.
During the earthquake in 1988, Manoogian chaired the ARS Regional at that time, organizing a campaign that raised $400,000 for relief in Detroit alone, where she resided. Husband Megerditch keeps the candle burning at both ends with three children who’ve come through the ranks.
A visit to the earthquake-devastated areas in Gyumri and Spitak was all it took to get the woman hyper-motivated. Pre-natal clinics were erected. Supplies were shipped in a hundred containers. Victims were transported to outside hospitals for care.
“Not a day passes when I don’t think about our organizations,” she said. “I wear different hats and change them as the occasion demands.”
As to what will become of the Artsakh medal, Manoogian thought about it for a second, then replied, “I’ll give it to my grandchild.”
“Which one? You have seven!”
“They’ll each take turns.”
Tom Vartabedian
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Congratulation Ungerouhi Angele .