I came to know the Lord at a very young age. I was part of the Christian community early on in my life and had the opportunity to interact with many ethnicities because my father had founded multiple Armenian churches in the East Los Angeles area as well as here in Pasadena. This really helped me understand cross0-cultural relationships because my closest friends were Armenians, Russians, Jews, Greeks and I was able to speak some of these languages to a certain degree.
Before going overseas, the Lord was grooming me for this experience. The war was a time where we were not sure where we were going. We were possibly heading to the Philippines, but there was some sort of fatal earthworm disease so we were assigned to go to Guam. I learned to make friends with the Japanese although most of them were prisoners of war. British and Japanese people didn’t get along very well during this time, so as a young man I played the role as an intermediary. I had many interesting experiences there. Admiral Nimitz licensed me as a ham radio operator on the island and he became my personal friend and was an incredible person. We found many men who were lost.
We heard a lot about Hitler in those early days – he was a venomous person. I studied him a lot and knew of his antics and some of the horrendous things he was doing. He was a destructive person. I knew that Germans at one time were our enemies and the Japanese as well; but you know when you come to Christ they become your friends. It’s not easy to do, but the Lord taught me how. We lived in an area where a lot of people had been enemies of Armenians as well as others, but we learned to interact with them and love them, and in many cases lead them to Christ.
At times it wasn’t easy being a Christian in the War. There were the “Backsliders” and “Ever Grace people - once saved always saved.” Sometimes you didn’t know if they were a Christian or not, because there was always conflict between the two, but I always knew I was. The Lord kept me safe and away from harm. I remember early on I would pray the prayer; Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep and if I die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take. In hard times, as a grown person in the military I used to pray that prayer... It was embedded in my heart and it did somethin(g for me; it kept me from backsliding. God kept me in His grace and I was favored.
I hope veterans will use their experiences to the glory of God. They have stories that need to be heard. What was it like to be a Christian in the military? Or if you weren’t a Christian, when did you turn to the Lord? And how have you used your experiences to the glory of God? I’m thankful for the opportunities I’ve had and the hardships. They are blessings.
Veterans get out there and do it. You have experiences and stories to tell. I’ve talked to some of the veterans at this church and they have wonderful stories that need to be told. I hope that we hear them. I pray for them. We need them.