Monte Melkonian

[Aaron]

I just got the book on Monte's life, written by his brother and entitled "my brother's road". I will read it shortly. It looks like an easy to read "biography/adventure/late 20th century history" book.

 

has anyone read it? if yes, your opinion?

 

A.

Edited August 4, 2005 by Aaron

[kumkap]

how much do you know about monte melkonian?

[Aaron]

I probably know what most of you know!

 

anyways, I'll get back to this topic after finishing the book

 

A.

[Arvestaked]

Monte Melkonian started off as a terrorist and that is what keeps me from having full respect for him.

[MosJan]

how much do you know about monte melkonian?

style_images/master/snapback.png

 

Never enough / not enough

 

Have spend many days digging in some old articles and book’s each book and article offers something new about Avo - but not enough

 

Book by Marqar about Avo will gave you general information and some details / Facts

 

We do have many topic’s in this forum on Monte – do search and it will gave you more info

[kumkap]

basically, from people i've talked to, the book leaves out some information. but it is a riveting, emotional book nonetheless that you will not be able to put down.

[Artsakh]

I got the book 3 months ago. If you're into reading, its like suspence. Very interesting and keeps you wanna keep reading. When i got it i could put it down, but i stopped 1/3 the way cuz i've been busy. But now that you bring it up, i think im gonna get back to that

 

Getseh Azgayin Heros Monte Melkonyan, Artsakhi Hramanadar

[Zartonk]

Getseh Azgayin Heros Monte Melkonyan, Artsakhi Hramanadar

 

Correct a mistake here, but he was American born right?

[kumkap]

Correct a mistake here, but he was American born right?

style_images/master/snapback.png

 

yes, and the most interesting thing was that his grandfather (or great-grandfather, i forget) was not just one of the first armenians to settle in fresno, but one of the first of anyone to settle in fresno. i think the melkonian family background is one of the most interesting things about his story.

[Zartonk]

but one of the first of anyone to settle in fresno.

 

His background I think is the only factor of his legendary aura. While many of the California sons of the Fresno settlers completely assimilated and discontinued being Armenians, this man faought for their survival. I actualy watched a documentary on the Fresno community and their story narrarted by that Manix guy (!), Mike Connors. Only then did I begin appreciateing Melkonian's significance.

Edited August 5, 2005 by Zartonk

[Boghos]

How inetresting. I was about to post about this book. I enjoyed it a lot, it is very well written, I read it in a weekend. The best part of it is that it is a very down to earth narrative, appears to be well balanced, even though that is always a tough call.

[archakhper]

I don't know about the rest of you guys, but this is the book I had been waiting for since I was about 14 years old. If you look into this genre of literature there are a lot of exciting texts about the national heroes / literature of oppression / stories of struggle of other groups available in English, but this is the first really explosive, inspirational and powerful thing like this to appear in English for Armenians. I'm trying to get every Armenian youth I know to read it.

 

 

Monte Melkonian started off as a terrorist and that is what keeps me from having full respect for him.

style_images/master/snapback.png

 

Arvestaked, have you read the book? Or, should I say, what have you read on him?

[Arvestaked]

I don't know about the rest of you guys, but this is the book I had been waiting for since I was about 14 years old.  If you look into this genre of literature there are a lot of exciting texts about the national heroes / literature of oppression / stories of struggle of other groups available in English, but this is the first really explosive, inspirational and powerful thing like this to appear in English for Armenians.  I'm trying to get every Armenian youth I know to read it.

Arvestaked, have you read the book?  Or, should I say, what have you read on him?

style_images/master/snapback.png

 

I read a summarized biography by his brother and maybe, incidentally, another short bio from another source. I also asked an opinion of my father who, relatively, has done quite a bit of research on terrorism in general. From what it seems to me, it's all well and good that he was well-educated and that he died fighting for Gharapagh, but there were actions in between that I cannot fully respect.

[Nakharar]

Hero aside, what puts a great stain on Monte is that he killed that Turkish man and his daughter in Athens. That's not the same thing as fighting on a battlefield in Artsakh. Just cold-blooded murder.

[archakhper]

Hero aside, what puts a great stain on Monte is that he killed that Turkish man and his daughter in Athens. That's not the same thing as fighting on a battlefield in Artsakh. Just cold-blooded murder.

style_images/master/snapback.png

 

 

When you say something like "Hero aside" it leads me to believe that you have little understanding of the impact of the Artsakh war and Monte's impact on the Artsakh War.

 

We refer to it as the war for Artsakh, but this title is misleading since it was really a war for national survival. The Azeri plan was to press clear across Artsakh, into Zangezour and unify with Nakhichevan (which is also Historic Armenian land, but has effectively been depopulated of its Armenians).

 

The impact Monte had in this war, was immeasurable. There are instances that his brother could not recount in the book, where Monte's prior experience in Lebanon was of paramount importance to the Armenian forces.

 

Yes, as anyone, Monte made mistakes...and that incident with the young girl was tragic and weighed heavily on him; however, the father was a legitimate target.

 

If you look at Monte's treatment of prisoners of war and civilians in the warzone, you will see that this one incident was not indicative of his personality / character / ethics. The incident with the diplomat and his daughters was one of his greatest failures in fact.

 

However, one life taken in errant haste can not outweigh thousands of lives saved in calculated and passionate struggle against seemingly insurmountable odds.

[MosJan]

Monte has paid for his mistakes – he has served his time for his wrongdoing

[Aaron]

I just finished the book "my brother's road". Very inspiring and also emotional at the end. Monte's mother saying after his death "what a waist, what a great man he could have been had he continued his studies as an archeologist" and seeing later on the 100 000 mourners in Erevan, she had changed her mind and rightly refered to her son as a "national hero". This reaction is understandable, all moms want their kids to have a quiet and comfortable life!

 

I did, and still am doing, a lot of personal thinking about the book and Monte's life. It is as if it got me questioning on many things about myself and people surrounding me (including hyeforum members).

 

I mean people on this forum have so much interest in Armenia and armenians in general (at least the ones writing in the political, artsakh and other related topics), I'm sure these people (you guys and girls) also follow the news from Armenia almost daily just like me, that we all feel like doing things for our nation and that our intentions are very good and sincere ....... but we don't know what to do to contribute efficiently (I'm included in all this)! Moreover, we'll have to figure that out soon in order to make the distinction between real commitment and part time hobbie or interest, and live our lives consequently! Monte did this, and lived it the way he saw it!

 

Can you imagine being in front of internet screens 30-40 years from now, having done nothing for the armenians (diaspora or homeland) and just taking the news and making comments on the forum passively. Travelling to armenia once in a while, eating khorovats, watching ararat, etc. It would be frustrating, not having done anything concrete for something that you have a huge interest for, it's like killing a part of you in order to be "reasonable" and "normal". I'm not talking about doing what Monte did, thank god we have a country, and a million different ways to contribute to it, and I'm still not mentioning all that can be done in the diaspora!

 

This guy (monte) had guts and brains ..... to the point he might have been considered crazy, and I think he is extremely, unimaginably lucky to have reached the age of 35 with the kind of life he lived. The fact that he entered the books of Armenian history as a legend is indisputable. To me he is in the same league as Vartan mamigonian, Tavit peg, Antranig, and Vazgen Sarkisian (maybe more, call me an idealist, i don't care). Quoting a yerevantsi: "the best god we ever had" is enough to understand what he meant to them. My family in yerevan who are not particularly nationalist or expressive when it comes to armenian leaders (military or political), told me they and their entire building was crying when news came of Monte's death!

 

In sum, the book allowed some decent soul searching in my case. I definitely recommend it to anyone, I hope it's doing good on the sales scene. I shall write later and would really appreciate your thoughts on all of this!

 

A.

[phantom22]

Aaron,

 

I have sent money to Armenian causes in Armenia, and have luckily seen positive results of my donations. I have also visited Armenia and have spent tourist dollars there.

 

As for going there and making a personal contribution toward improving the country, it just won't happen. I have worked in a career similar to Monte's and could make a contribution, but I can not re-enter Armenia until a Western European type Armenian leader emerges. I wait for that day.

Edited August 18, 2005 by phantom22

[Aaron]

I understand what you mean. By the way, I don't doubt that people are dedicated to the nation and I definitely didn't imply that people on this forum are not doing anything for it. It's just that I don't know where this is headed, what is the big picture? Sending money to armenia until a wester type leader emerges is in the minds of all of us ..... basically because of poor leadership in Armenia! What if that leader never emerges? Monte didn't wait for a leader to emerge! Maybe it should emerge from the diaspora? maybe one of us (generally speaking) could do that job someday!

 

I don't want to criticize anyone, and I'm as confused as others on this issue! they're just questions that I'm asking myself!

 

thanks for the reply

 

R.

[phantom22]

Aaron,

 

I think that it is best that the leadership emerge from the diaspora. The governmental apparatus in the ROA is too much a leftover from Soviet days.

Greece, Georgia, Latvia, Israel have all had excellent leaders from their diaspora.

 

When Kocharian retires, a diaspora Armenian is waiting in the wings. More like him should emerge and pull the ROA toward the West. I can not envision the ROA drifting toward the Islamic world, which is increasingly becoming a series of theocracies, or remaining as a province of Russia.

Edited August 19, 2005 by phantom22

[MosJan]

Critics' Forum

 

Literature

 

The Path Not Taken: My Brother's Road

 

By Hovig Tchalian

 

The recently published biography by Markar Melkonian, My Brother's Road: An American's Fateful Journey to Armenia, begins with an interesting premise—what kind of a man was the subject of the book and the author's brother, Monte "Avo" Melkonian?

 

As its subtitle suggests, the book attempts to answer the question by tracing the life of an ordinary kid who grew up to become a freedom fighter in Armenia. Monte's life led him from his birthplace—the quiet, unassuming farming village of Visalia, California, "the Walnut Capital of the World"—to the ranks of the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia, and on to heroics and a legendary reputation in the battle for Mountainous Karabagh.

 

Along the way, we learn about Monte's prowess as a little league baseball pitcher. We discover his first encounters with "otherness" in the schoolyard, when American schoolchildren ask him where he is born. We learn about his interest in Armenian history and, eventually, the "Armenian Question." We also read about occasionally amusing encounters, such as the one between Monte and a childhood teacher who recognizes him unexpectedly on an airplane, just as he is preparing to assassinate a Turkish official. Melkonian's book tries to walk the fine line between telling a good story and deriving a larger meaning from a series of interesting events.

 

In essence, the book asks the opposite question posed by a novel Ara Oshagan and I discussed several weeks ago, Micheline Aharonian Marcom's The Daydreaming Boy. Marcom asks how—or whether—it is possible to understand a historical event like the Genocide from within the fictional form of the novel. Melkonian seems to ask instead whether it is possible to tell the fantastic exploits of a man become legend from within the non-fictional form of biography.

 

The book's Prologue seems to address just this dilemma, as the author recounts the day of his brother's burial at the young age of thirty-five. As thousands of mourners gather around the coffin as it winds its way through the streets of Yerevan, the author tells us that "a Russian general told a television interviewer, quite inaccurately, that they had first met when Monte had been a slayer of Soviets in Afghanistan. A one-legged woman claimed that Monte had rescued her from a minefield. The child of a peasant recalled his 'amazing simplicity.' And yet so much remained uncertain, obscure." The characters Melkonian singles out could just as easily populate a mystery novel or a book of fables.

 

In the book's final chapter, Melkonian returns to this burial scene, after recounting his brother's death by shrapnel in a roadside confrontation. But now, Melkonian says simply that "the rumors and conspiracy theories continue to proliferate. But for my part, I'm convinced that Monte and Saribeg [a fellow soldier] died in a chance encounter with Azeri fighters." This seems to echo the author's earlier claim in the Prologue–that "as the rumors have proliferated over the years, my need to separate fable from creditable report has only grown." The statement is entirely fair and pragmatic. But it comes on the heels of a series of other puzzling questions about Monte—"Was he temperate or was he a vodka guzzler? A communist to his dying day, or a reborn nationalist? A defender of captives or a slitter of throats?"—puzzling more for being posed at all than for their insight or interpretive value.

 

Unfortunately for the book and its readers, this apparent discord between the marvelous and the mundane is never resolved or properly addressed. As such, the questions Melkonian poses and attempts to answer ultimately hold little enduring philosophical or historical value. The reviews on the book's cover uniformly depict an author with a curious, intellectual interest in his material. That may very well be true. The careful reader will also suspect, however, that the author is ultimately less interested in the apparent dilemma of Monte Melkonian's life than in telling the story of his 'kid brother' turned folk hero. The result is a book that too often comes off as trite more than philosophical, sentimental more than serious.

 

The book's real value is in telling a good story, which it does well, and its genuine warmth and honesty. There are also moments of some lyrical beauty, ironically often in descriptions of battle and warfare. In chapter eight, for instance, the author powerfully evokes a scene of war from Monte's time in Lebanon: "Israeli tanks squealed over the hills in the medium distance and Israeli helicopters hovered low overhead, dropping phosphor flares that threw flickering blue shadows over the boulders and brush around Monte's earthen bunker."

 

Just a few lines later, however, Melkonian reverts to his more usual 'personal' narrative voice to describe his little brother: "putting his math skills together with his military training, he radioed enemy coordinates to Palestinian rocket launchers...." The nuanced description of battle quickly gives way to what sounds like a line from a hastily prepared resume. Later in the book, Melkonian muses about his brother, who is spent time in Italy: "he strolled to a park near the Coliseum, absorbed in thoughts about architecture and the morals of various nations."

 

The book ultimately—and quite explicitly—poses its own dilemma of the personality that lies behind a myth, the 'truth' concealed within fiction. When a French journalist interviews Monte, the author suggests that she "had been surprised to discover that the fearsome terrorist leader was in fact attentive, funny, and smart—a far cry from the bellicose fanatic she had expected." The line encapsulates the book's interest in the 'human' side of Monte Melkonian's story well. But it suggests equally that the implicit emphasis on the personal story is the book's real undoing.

 

In My Brother's Road, any ambitions of exploring the paradox of personality are finally resolved in the private conversation between a man and his brother—and more generally, two Armenians in communion with each other. It is perhaps not too far-fetched to suggest that the pervasiveness of this too comfortable paradigm of community is precisely the obstacle that diasporan Armenian writing must overcome on its way to something greater.

 

All Rights Reserved: Critics Forum, 2005

 

Hovig Tchalian holds a PhD in English literature from UCLA. You can reach him or any of the other contributors to Critics' Forum at criticsforum@sbcglobal.net.

[archakhper]

Aaron,

 

I have sent money to Armenian causes in Armenia, and have luckily seen positive results of my donations. I have also visited Armenia and have spent tourist dollars there.

 

As for going there and making a personal contribution toward improving the country, it just won't happen. I have worked in a career similar to Monte's and could make a contribution, but I can not re-enter Armenia until a Western European type Armenian leader emerges. I wait for that day.

style_images/master/snapback.png

 

 

Barev Everyone,

 

Phantom,

What do you mean by "a career similar to Monte's"? Does that mean US Military service?

 

I am in general agreement with Aaron. I feel this book is a powerful document and can be used as a powerful tool to inspire youth to take more ownership of their homeland. This is a very inspirational book and that's because Monte's life and actions were very inpsirational.

 

As far as waiting for a certain type of leadership to emerge...that really doesn't make much sense to me...I feel my connection is more to the land and people and culture than to the political system. Which is why I plan on moving there. If it has problems, I need to work to make them better--not wait for other people to do it for me.

 

It's just that I don't know where this is headed, what is the big picture? Sending money to armenia until a wester type leader emerges is in the minds of all of us ..... basically because of poor leadership in Armenia! What if that leader never emerges? Monte didn't wait for a leader to emerge! Maybe it should emerge from the diaspora? maybe one of us (generally speaking) could do that job someday!

 

You're right Aaoron, Monte didn't wait for others, he acted himself...I aspire to always be like that. Now here is the part of what I'm going to say that is going to be really unpopular:

 

I don't feel that we suffer due to poor leadership. We have bad characteristics that are common to a great number of our people, that is to say we have a lot of bad traits, and our leadership simply reflect us. We have all sorts of leaders, good ones, bad ones, mediocre ones...they are reflections of us. If the bad ones are really bad, its because we are a people of extremes. Our immoral, "bad" individuals are horrible, and a lot of times our good individuals are excellent. We have people like Monte, Vazgen Sargsyan, Victor Hambartsumyan etc. and then we have people like the many traitors that contributed to thousands of deaths during the genocide, villagers that gave away the locations of fedayees, people like the killers of Oct. 27.

 

Perhaps I haven't been succesful in fully expressing my ideas on this, but to sum it up: We don't suffer due to poor leadership, our leaders are a reflection of us. If they are selfish and incompetent its because we are selfish and incompetent. If they are hardworking and altruistic, it is because we are hardworking and altruistic. When we speak of our community and we throw in the word they...we begin to go off on a track that can not lead to improvement (read as self-improvement). We--not they.

 

Finally, I disagree with most of Dr. Tchalian's review of the book. I think his main flaw is that he looks at it from literary critics point of view. This can be argued also. However, I think the book's real importance is in the real world application of it. Use this book to inspire the next generation as well as the current one (if there is such a thing as a current generation). And as far as his critical review goes, I'd argue against his position in that respect also.

 

I don't mean to offend anyone, this is just how I speak/write.

[Chepadian]

new user...new member...

hello all, no haven't read the book, but met Monte in Beirut...

long time ago...

will write more.

[Yervant1]

http://panorama.am/news_images/563/1686568_3/f583edde306777_583edde3067b5.thumb.jpg

Society 18:13 30/11/2016 Armenia

Memorial dedicated to Monte Melkonyan to be dismantled in Turkey

The Provincial Hall of Tunceli province in Turkey has made a decision to demolish the memorial dedicated to Armenian national hero Monte Melkonyan and other heroes of the Armenian liberation war. The monument was opened in one of the villages of the province.

Referring to the Turkish newspaper Sozcu, Ermenihaber reports that the decision of dismantling the memorial was made after the event had been covered by Sozcu newspaper columnist Sayg Ozturk.

His article presented the response of Ali Erdinç Chairman of the Talaat ***** Committee, a Turkish nationalist organization aiming to counter recognition of the Armenian Genocide, regarding the fact of unveiling the memorial.

In Erdinç’s words, Turkey is being weakened within with the assistance of the Armenian Diaspora.

“The Armenian Diaspora has recently been organizing some secret malicious activities not only in abroad, but also here, in Turkey, cooperating with separatist circles and groups.”

Along with Monte Melkonyan, names of Gevorg Chaush, Armenak Bakrjyan, Manuel Demir, Nubar Yanikyan, Andranik Ozanyan are also written on the memorial.

“We condemn the Armenian Genocide. We pay tribute to memory of Armenak Bakrjyan and Hrant Dink. The Armenian Genocide continues even 100 years later,” the inscription on the memorial reads.

http://www.panorama.am/en/news/2016/11/30/Memorial-dedicated-to-Monte-Melkonyan-to-be-dismantled-Turkey/1686568

[MosJan]