I’m certain that there are many among us who have heard some of our new arrivals 
characterizing Americatzies as stupid and complaining about how much better life was in 
the ‘yergir.’   Yet no matter how stupid they find the native Americans or the 
shortcomings of their newly adopted country, I haven’t seen any of them tripping over 
each other trying to get back to where they came from.


Generally speaking, whenever I am confronted by people making such senseless remarks, 
I always respond by saying, "Yes, ‘Americatzies’ can be stupid at times, and no doubt life 
was probably better in the ‘yergir,’ but have you ever stopped to wonder how a United 
States with its inferior lifestyles and stupid people has become the most powerful nation 
in the world in a little more than two centuries? 


I am not saying that these people are ignorant or ungrateful, but it does demonstrate an 
important lack of understanding for their good fortune--a good fortune that so many of us 
oftentimes overlook--a good fortune called "liberty."


Putting aside all of the shortcomings regarding the past or present foreign policies of our 
State Department, our United States of America has been a godsend for our Armenian 
people.


Starting with the survivors of the 1915 Genocide, the thousands upon thousands of 
displaced Armenians that were scattered in slave camps throughout Europe after WWII, 
the many thousands of Armenians who came to America during and after the Lebanon 
civil war in 1958, along with the many more thousands who came and have been coming 
for other reasons from other desecrated parts of our world, this blessed country of ours 
has been providing them not only a safe haven from oppression but also the opportunity 
for a free and unbounded way of life.

	
Being born of Armenian parenthood, I am very proud of my ancestral heritage.  But I am 
also proud of my American heritage.  But being a part of America through choice or 
through birth should not stop us from being proud of our Armenian existence.  We have 
established Godfearing and morally strong families.  The livelihoods we earn are through 
honest labor or honest enterprise.   We have established businesses that offer livelihoods 
to others besides ourselves.  We have built churches, schools, and cultural centers to keep 
the quality of our spiritual existence alive, and last but not least, we have fought and died 
in four major wars to keep the democratic values of our beloved nation alive.  For the 
most part, we Armenians do not believe in taking without giving back.


On Martyr’s Day, April 24, 1998, Armenian churches throughout the world will be 

commemorating the 83rd anniversary of the 1915 Genocide of our forbearers.  In 
commemorating this Martyr’s Day as we have in the past, we will be praying for the souls 
of our dead, and through our prayers, that the world will finally find its God-given soul by 
putting an end to the barbarism that befell our people in 1915.  And for us whom I 
consider the most fortunate, let us also give thanks to our United States of America for 
affording us the liberty to honor our dead---but even more important, the liberty and 
privilege of keeping our Armenian heritage and culture alive.


Joseph Vosbikian