Armenia’s Ambassador to the U.S. Varuzhan Nersesyan met with a staunch supporter of Armenian issues former Senator Bob Dole.
Nersesyan conveyed the well wishes from Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Armen Sarkissian before bestowing Dole Armenia’s “Order of Honor” for his considerable contribution to the development and enhancement of the friendly relations between Armenian and the United States.
Ambassador Nersesyan expressed profound gratitude to Senator Dole for his tireless efforts for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide while he was serving in the Senate. He said that Dole’s commitment greatly contributed and set a precedent for the recent passage of Armenian Genocide resolutions in the House and the Senate.
Reminiscing about his great friend, Doctor Hampar Kelikian, who saved his life during the World War II, Senator Dole said that he was always proud of his friendship with Armenians and Armenia.
Nersesyan told Dole about the recent large-scale democratic reforms in Armenia and the positive dynamics in Armenia-U.S. relations following the Velvet Revolution. He also informed Dole about the cooperation with his native State of Kansas, particularly between the Kansas National Guard and Armenia’s Armed Forces. Dole expressed his readiness to assist in these endeavors.
From my historical poetry book “BRING OUT our Genocided Skulls & Artful Hands”
inaugurated in Komitas Museum, Yerevan on May 11, 2019: p.174-76
Senator Bob Dole and the Armenian Orthopedic Surgeon,
Dr. Hampar Kelikian, an orphan from Armenian Genocide
Kelikian operated on Senator Bob Dole, who was a soldier
wounded in Italy, He restored the use of Mr. Dole’s arm by
transplanting leg bone and muscle to the limb.
~~~
‘Brave Soldier Dole & Gifted Surgeon Hampar
United to Save Humanity from War Miseries’
Dole, with deformed Right Hand
Yet his glial cells full of sparks,
His rich smile, tells each of us
How his powerful cardiocytes act toward life
for minorities who need care.
Bob recognized the Armenian Genocide
Without any fear from Turkish scimitars.
But … did that help for Congress to act faithfully
Scraping some scars from Armenians’ heart valves?
SYLVA PORTOIAN, MD, FRCP, CH
June 21, 2013
Richard Dole (b.1923) in 1942 joined the United States Army’s Enlisted Reserve Corps to fight in World War II, while engaged in combat near Castel d’Aiano, Dole was badly wounded by German machinegun fire, being hit in his upper back and right arm. Dole was transported to the United States, where his recovery was slow, interrupted by blood clots and a life-threatening infection. After large doses of penicillin had not succeeded, Dole was encouraged to see a Chicago orthopedist Dr. Hampar Kelikian, who had been working with veterans returning from war. Although during their first meeting Kelikian told Dole that he would never be able to recover fully, the encounter changed Dole’s outlook on life, who years later wrote that Kelikian, a survivor of the Armenian Genocide, “Inspired me to focus on what I had left and what I could do with it, rather than complaining what had been lost.” Dr. Kelikian operated on him seven times, free of charge, and had, in Dole’s words, “an impact on my life second only to my family.” (Wikipedia 2014)
A brave man like Surgeon Kelikian can do anything
Because He saw in front of his eyes . . .
What He lost . . . He lost three sisters, relatives, friends, kin, . . .
He lost their beautiful faces and their kindness during the Genocide.
They are no longer there to embrace and praise his heroness.
We should not forget that Hampar belonged to Khachkar’s race,
Those who carved and carved by their small chisels and nails,
For an artist–surgeon Hampar hereby managed to fix the honest soldier’s
Right Hand was much easier than carving the hard rocks
To make historical Khachkars.
Surgery is a Heroic Job ~ Yes consciously heroic . . .
You should have no fear to face tragedies to save lives,
And save the most precious limbs . . . broken arms.
Right more than the left, without them how can you write or carve?
Surgeons in themselves they feel . . . they are Heros
Every morning they step and face a new sun with its moon
If others don’t grasp their aims
They can’t understand their sincere braveness.
Unless they had some tragedy like poor, Senator Dole
Who is still sailing with smiles with his genius surgeon, Hampar
Covering his right hand by his left from the view.
He tried by his polite-political power to recognize the Armenian genocide,
After hearing from Dr. Hampar the stories of his unlucky race!
Dole as a Senator (R) he already recognized the Armenian genocide
But he was blocked strongly by childish Junior Bush
Who felt he should stay allies with the criminal Turkish gangs.
To ignore Armenians and many other honest nation’s rights.
SYLVA PORTOIAN, MD, FRCP
June 21, 2014
Dr. Hampar Kelikian M.D. (1899-1983), A Genius, Master-Surgeon, and Poet.
He was born in Hadjin, historic Armenia, in 1915. He fled his land where violence stormed, annihilating 1.5 million Armenians including his three sisters.
Dr. Kelikian’s good friend famous writer William Saroyan (1908-1981) said of him: “He is enormity both as a brilliantly creative surgeon and a human being. His kindness, understanding intelligence, and humor are instant, constant and inexhaustible, whether he is with children in a hospital or with a poet at a dinner table . . .”
Kelikian services were recognized by President Harry Truman, who gave him a citation and a medal. He also received a citation from the Queen of England while working as a consultant Orthopaedic surgeon at the Ronkswood General Hospital in Worcester.
In 1969, he was appointed to President Nixon’s Task Force for the Disabled. In 1966 he was awarded the Order of the National Cedars of Lebanon by President Charles Helou (1913-2001). Kelikian later became an emeritus associate professor of orthopedic surgery, performing ten operations a week when he was 80. Kelikian wrote three monographs on hand, ankle, and foot surgery, as well as a book of Armenian poetry.
On July 27, 1983, Senator Robert Dole paid a moving tribute to his dear friend and healer and said, “Dr. Kelikian earned fame for his historic accomplishments in the operating room. He earned the gratitude of thousands of people, who like me, live a much fuller existence because of his operative skills. He was “pure gold” – added Senator Dole.
I say, “I was lucky to meet his famous son Dr. Armen Kelikian in the North Western hospital, Chicago because I had sciatica. When I was sitting in the waiting room, I saw so many patients in wheelchairs. After examining me, he said, “You have nothing.” He was correct and he encouraged me to exercise, saying all the pain will disappear. He made me happy with his Armenian hearty smile. His male nurse diagnosed us, saying, “Are you from his fans?”
Recently announced (February 7, 2018), The Robert and Elizabeth Dole Archive and Special Collections at the Dole Institute of Politics has announced the recipients of two grants related to the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1917.