Dedication of khachkar for Khachadour Garabedian, Philadelphia's Armenian Civil War Soldier

The Philadelphia Armenian community gathered to dedicate a khachkar on the formerly unmarked grave of Khachadour Garabedian (1836-1881), the only Armenian officer of the Civil War. In 1864 he enlisted in the Union Navy where he was commissioned as an officer. Upon his death of tuberculosis in 1881 he was buried at Fernwood Cemetery in Lansdowne. In 1951 his tombstone was deemed to have fallen into disrepair and was removed, leaving his grave unmarked and forgotten. His story was rediscovered again by chance by Gary Koltookian, who brought awareness to the story. The project to mark his grave with a traditional Armenian khachkar was undertaken by the Philadelphia Armenian-American Veterans Association (PAAVA). The dedication seen here consisted of a requiem and grave blessing service performed by Philadelphia's five Armenian priests. Speakers include president of PAAVA Sandra Selverian, Gary Koltookian, and project co-chair Paul Sookiasian. The video includes a reading of a resolution honoring Garabedian's service from the U.S. House of Representatives's Congressman Patrick Meehan.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Armenian Khachkar
• Armenian Apostolic Church
• Armenian Catholic Church

[Urartu1]

What an honor to know our fellow Armenians fought for America's freedom from its very inception, going all the way back to the Civil War.

Out of curiosity, I looked up Paul Sookiasian's grandfather. Among thousands of Armenian-Americans who served in the US military during WWII, I found two Soukiasians.

SGT. Haig S. Soukiasian, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and PFC Kaloust Soukiasian from Watertown, Massachusetts. Reference; "Our Boys, Armenian-American Veterans of World War II".