ARMAND ARABIAN PUTS AWARD IN FOCUS NOTED JURIST TO GET ELLIS ISLAND MEDAL.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
It was their first family portrait together in America, and they're posed like the Rockefellers - like they've got a million bucks in the bank. But they have nothing, really - just each other. When this picture was taken in December 1934, the family had been in this country only a few years, survivors of the Armenian Genocide  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. . They were living in a tenement A comprehensive legal term for any type of property of a permanent nature—including land, houses, and other buildings as well as rights attaching thereto, such as the right to collect rent. on New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of City's Lower East Side - not too far from Ellis Island Ellis Island, island, c.27 acres (10.9 hectares), in Upper New York Bay, SW of Manhattan island. Government-controlled since 1808, it was long the site of an arsenal and a fort, but most famously served (1892–1954) as the chief immigration station of the United , where they and tens of thousands of other immigrant families entered this country, seeking a better life. At Ellis Island next month, the man shown in an old photo as a baby sitting on his grandmother's lap will receive a coveted cov·et v. cov·et·ed, cov·et·ing, cov·ets v.tr. 1. To feel blameworthy desire for (that which is another's). See Synonyms at envy. 2. To wish for longingly. See Synonyms at desire. award - the Ellis Island Medal of Honor The Ellis Island Medal of Honor was established in 1986 to pay tribute to the immigrant experience and individual achievement, and are awarded to U.S. citizens from various ethnic backgrounds. given to U.S. citizens who ``preserve and reinforce the value of their heritage, and contribute extraordinary service to humanity in any field, profession or occupation.'' Former California Supreme Court Justice Armand Arabian of Van Nuys will have his name added to the Ellis Island honor roll honor roll n. A list of names of people worthy of honor, especially: a. A list of students who have earned high grades during a specified period. b. A list of people who have served in the armed forces. with those of presidents, political leaders, sports and entertainment legends, and successful businessmen and artists from every walk of life. It's pretty heady company for the first-born son of immigrants who lived in a New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. tenement. But he won't be thinking about any of that when they put the medal around his neck next month. He'll be thinking of the faces in this family portrait - and those missing from the picture. Judge Arabian has a harrowing family history. His grandfather had been a leader in the village of Chengeller, Turkey, not far from Constantinople, now Istanbul. One morning in 1915 the village was attacked by Turkish soldiers, and the nightmare began, he says. His grandfather was taken to the center of town, placed against a wall and executed by a firing squad. His crime? He was Armenian. ``My grandmother was driven from her home with nothing but the dress on her back,'' Arabian says. ``Along with others, she and two of her sons were marched for days until they reached the banks of a swift river Swift River is the name of several rivers: In Canada:
``A mounted gendarme with bandoleers of ammunition crossing his chest ordered her to swim across the river or be shot on the spot. Some soldiers were already killing those who couldn't make it. ``Holding the hands of her two sons, she faced an impossible dilemma: She could save the life of one son by swimming across the river with him, but she would have to leave the other son behind. ``She chose the eldest, 11-year-old Ovanes, my father,'' Arabian said. ``Helping each other, they swam across. Left on the riverbank was 4-year-old Oskian - standing with his arms outstretched out·stretch tr.v. out·stretched, out·stretch·ing, out·stretch·es To stretch out; extend. outstretched Adjective , crying for his mother and brother. ``He never saw them again. Not a day went by in my grandmother's life that she didn't relive the heartbreak and pain from leaving her 4-year-old son standing on that riverbank crying,'' Arabian said. ``Years later, her daughter, Araxi, was rescued from an orphanage in France. One of her beautiful orphan playmates, Aghavnie, later became my mother,'' he says, for Ovanes married her. Aunt Araxi stands over her mother's right shoulder in the picture. Arabian's mother stands alongside his father, a tailor. And, of course, in the middle sits the matriarch of the family - his grandmother, Soultana, who relived that swim across the river every day of her life until she died in 1982. It is in their memory, their honor, that he will lower his head and accept the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, Arabian says. Not for himself or anything he did but for what they did. ``My father used to say the only country club Armenians belong to is the one at Ellis Island. It was the only one that accepted them.'' Arabian will visit his ancestors' graves before he returns home. He knows it will be an emotional moment as he kneels before their graves with that medal of honor Medal of Honor highest American military decoration for wartime gallantry. [Am. Hist.: Misc.] See : Bravery hanging from his neck. It says a lot about the greatness and heart of this country that immigrant families, like his, were invited into the country club at Ellis Island after fleeing so much heartbreak, poverty, and violence, Arabian says. And that, after only a few years in America, they faced the camera like they were the Rockefellers - like they had a million bucks in the bank. Dennis McCarthy, (818) 713-3749 dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Former state Supreme Court Judge Armand Arabian holds a portrait of his immigrant Armenian family in the early 1930s. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer |
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