Memorial at St. Vartan Armenian Church, Oakland, Cal. Photo courtesty of St. Vartan Armenian Church.

As those who are involved in Scouting, and many others, know, one of the requirements for the rank of Eagle Scout is for the Scout to plan, develop, and lead a significant service project to benefit a religious institution, school, or community. Often, Life Scouts are looking for ideas of what might be a suitable project, and they can take inspiration from the projects of two recent Eagle Scouts, Noubar Armen Mannogian of Troop 869, Scottsdale, Arizona, of the BSA Grand Canyon Council, and Alex Collelo of Troop 805, Danville, California, of the BSA Mt. Diablo Silverado Council.

An item in the Winter 2015 issue of Eagles’ Call magazine, the publication of the National Eagle Scout Association, caught my eye recently. It described the Mr. Manoogian’s Eagle project. He is a second-generation Armenian-American and member of St. Apgar Armenian Apostolic Church in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Largely forgotten by most Americans, a century ago, the people of Armenia were in the midst of immense persecution, the end result of which was the wholesale genocide of the Armenian people. In the midst of World War 1, in 1915, as many as 1.5 million Armenians would die at the hands of the Ottoman Turks. It was the first genocide of the twentieth century, and it set the stage for all of the rest.  And to the extent that it is remembered, what is often overlooked is the fact that it was a case of Christian martyrdom. As I wrote previously, most of the victims died because they clung to their Christian faith despite persecution.

The survivors became the Armenian Diaspora, eventually finding their way to North America, the Soviet Union, South America, and Australia.  Among the descendants of those survivors was Mr. Manoogian, and his Eagle project was in remembrance of the genocide. At his church, he led the construction of a memorial to the genocide, one of only a handful in the United States. It contains the names of 113 towns where the victims, ancestors of the church’s members, lived.

Mr. Colello’s Eagle project was to create a similar memorial as well as new landscaping at his church, St. Vartan Armenian Church in Oakland, California. It also included the names of 48 ancestral hometowns, a plaque, and marble benches.

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