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Portrait of Bravery: The Life and Times of Dr. Floyd Smith
The Armenian Weekly April 2014 magazine
Born on Dec. 1, 1885 in the small farming town of Rowley, Iowa, the fascinating life of Dr. Floyd Olin Smith had a most humble beginning. In the twilight of his life, he wrote, “my parents, Arthur and Jane Smith, were of pioneer stock, who had migrated from ‘back East’ New England, New York, and Ohio.” Wishing their son to have an education, Dr. Smith received his M.D. in 1911 from the University of Iowa following his graduation from Lenox College.
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Wonderful article! Thank you for posting. Sad and heart breaking facts as to be seen through the eyes of an American.
Fascinating story!
Amazing article. What a courageous human being. One of many who witnessed the Armenian genocide…
My great uncle, Kerop Koumrian was also imprisoned at the Santo Tomas internment camp. General McArthur came and rescued the prisoners just before the Japanese would come and burn down the camp.
My Great Uncle, Kerop Koumrian was also a prisoner at the Santo Tomas internment camp. The Japanese were about to burn down the camp when General McArthur came and rescued the prisoners.
If this isn’t a screenplay !!!!!
This novel tragic suitable to be pursuant to movie .. to reveal the tragedy and the suffering of the Armenians in front of underdevelopment intellectual and social in that period .. As is the case with the suffering and genocide against Muslims in the Central African Republic, Myanmar .. to support peace in anywhere and anytime, and we stand against violence overall global whatever the reasons and justifications for the non-recurrence of the tragedies that still stain on the conscience of the free world and the civilized .. because it sees crime does not take a decision to stop the violence.
Waleed Alsaqar
Waleed:
Your sentiments about peace are shared.
But I find the juxtaposition of these two sentences written by you quite strange:
“….the tragedy and the suffering of the Armenians…..”
vs.
“…the suffering and genocide against Muslims in the Central African Republic, Myanmar…”
Now, why is it that you deliberately chose not to use the unique word ‘genocide’ when referring to the, quote, ‘tragedy and suffering of the Armenians’, but were quite generous in using it in the other context ?
I am somewhat familiar with the plight of minority Muslim civilians in CAR.
It is quite clear that Christian Militias are forcing Muslims to flee.
There is a background to all the violence*, but collective punishment of Muslim civilians is clearly wrong and unacceptable.
And there are massacres of Muslim civilians, women, children by Christian mobs.
But genocide ?
How so ?
Same with Myanmar. There is clearly Buddhist mob violence and killings against the Muslim minority.
But, again: Genocide ?
How so ?
Is every atrocity against Muslims now a ‘genocide’, but the Armenian Genocide is a ‘tragedy’ ?
Is this another variant of, you know, the ‘shared suffering’, ‘just memory’, ‘tragic events (sic)’, etc, etc, …. promulgated by the well known Genocide ‘scholars’ FM Davutoglu, PM Erdogan and the other members of their denialist gang ?
Peace.
——
* the Muslim Seleka violence (massacres) against CAR Christians, after Seleka overthrew CAR Gov and took power in 2013.
[The Seleka weren’t an overtly religious movement, but they were mostly Muslim, as was Michel Djotodia, the president they installed in March 2013 after taking power. The fighters that ushered in Djotodia ran wild across the country during his time in office, plundering villages and killing Christians as well as supporters of the former president Francois Bozize.]
[In September 2013 Michel Djotodia announced that Seleka had been dissolved. The disbanded group has dispersed into the countryside and have been committing mass atrocities according to Human Rights Watch. Executions, rape and looting by ex-Seleka fighters after the coup and disbanding have fomented religious tension where the population is 80% Christian.] (citations from Wiki)
An amazing story that points to heroes and heroines of long ago while setting the bar for the youth of today. Human rights knows no boundary nor limitation. Thank you.
Thank you for this very interesting historical article which gives us the different places where Dr Floyd Smith lived :
~ Rowley ~~ Lenox College ~~ University of Iowa ~~ Des Moines ~~ Hopkinton ~~ Boston ~~ Paris (where for six months ?)
~ Constantinople ~~ Jérusalem ~~ Aintab ~~ Kharpert ~~ Diyarbekir ~~ Urfa ~
~ Aleppo ~~ Beirut ~~ Greece (where ?)
~ Cagayan de Oro (Philippines) ~~ Negros Island ~~ San Tomas Internment Camp ~~ Manila
~ Felton (California)
That is to say, we have the possibility to signalize this historical article by sending targeted e-mails to the City Councils of the different towns. Thus we can ask them a financial aid to our Armenian refugees of Artsakh who are much in need.
We’ll try to have such a cultural-practical-humanitarian automatism dealing also with other historical articles. It is important to do this kind of grassroots phase informating the civil society. Every Armenian internaute can be an Armenian Fedayi on the web.
Best regards. Nil Agopoff, born in Paris in 1944 // Historical Councellor for the French Armenian Veterans Association.
Hello Nil, forgive me, but I am a researcher and I have been trying to get in touch with you about the source of a picture of Joseph Hekekyan you published on a website many years ago. Could you get in touch with me when you have moment at meiragold@gmail.com? Thank you.
Hi, good work, I am Gülşen, I am working on the activities of the American Board missionaries in Diyarbakır. especially in education and health issues. for example: Dr. Floyd Olin Smith and Dr. Daniel Morrison Benonia Thom vs…….. I would be very happy if you could help me with this.
Yours truly….