"Did I really fight to live like this?
President of the Council of Veterans of Verin Tchambarak, first-degree disabled Levon Melkumyan is 92 years old, but remembers the Great Patriotic War as if it were yesterday.
The veteran participated in the Finnish war until 1939 and, in his words, fought with skis. "The Finnish war was peaceful compared to the German war," says the veteran, mentioning that he was transferred to Division 390 in Kursk as soon as the Great Patriotic War started in 1941 and then Ulyanovsk.
"We didn't know who we were fighting against. Airplanes were throwing bombs from above. Amid the chaos, we lost reason and weren't able to resist," said the veteran and mentioned that that is where he injured his foot. "I was transferred to Ural where I underwent my first treatment," said the veteran as he remembered nurse Tanya with whom he also had a short love affair.
"When the Jewish doctor wanted to cut my leg, Tanya advised me to refuse and transfer to another doctor that she knew. After long resistance, I was transferred to Doctor Artemov who had adopted Tanya because he didn't have children. Besides that, it was a coincidence that my father's name was Artem too. Our family started during the war and was forced to separate during the same war. When our roads parted, I heard that the Germans killed the doctor and never heard of Tanya again," said the veteran.
"I could no longer fight due to the injury. A year before the end of the war, I returned to the homeland and brought my Russian friend from Leningrad. The city was in a blockade during those years and my friend couldn't go back home. He even fell in love with someone in our district, but didn't manage to get married after being sent to a military school in Tbilisi. He sent me a letter saying that he was going to be sent to the front again. Then, I didn't receive any information from him or his parents. I was alone in the native village. My father died and my two brothers didn't return from the war," continued the veteran sadly.
Levon Melkumyan currently lives in extreme conditions. He lives with his unemployed son and grandchildren. His daughter-in-law is ill in bed.
The war veteran has serious health problems, including problems with hearing and moving around. He has address all state instances regarding his condition and has always received indefinite responses. He asked to mention that the RA Minister of Defense hadn't even responded to his letter and added at the end:
"Did we fight to live like this?"
