Yerevan's Yerablur Military Pantheon today received another casualty of Azerbaijan's recent aggression.

This time it was the body of captured and killed David Gishyan. The Azerbaijanis had released videos of bandaging David’s wounds. On September 17, Azerbaijan handed over the bodies of 32 Armenian soldiers, including David's.

Manush Amiraghyan, a relative, said, “since the videos were widely distributed David was recognized by investigators and his parents were called to the morgue to identify him.”

David started his service in July 2021. He was serving in Etchmiadzin, but was later transferred to Kapan. September 24 would have been his 20th birthday. 

As his relatives explain, David and his fellow servicemen were returning from a battle when David noticed that one of the soldiers who was next to him wasn’t there anymore. So, he went back to look for him and consequently suffered a wound in the shoulder and was taken prisoner. There is still no information on the soldier that David went to look for. 

After hearing about her nephew’s death, Gayane Gishyan promptly flew from Russia to Armenia. 

“When I heard that David was taken prisoner, I became hysterical, such a thing has happened before in our family. In 1991, my cousin Voskepari was taken prisoner, and his dead body was handed over a few days later. This time, I was told that such a thing could not happen, and that ‘whoever’s face they photograph, they return, otherwise we would go to the European courts’. Azerbaijan is an unrighteous and hideous government,” says the aunt. 

David’s roots were in Novemberyan, where he would spend the summers with his grandparents. 

“David would come to the mountains with me when he was two years old and would stay until the weather got cold. He was a playful and active child. When he came, he was a joy to the kids who would play on the mountainside. He would organize trips to the forest, and they would bring back flowers and have bonfires” Grandma Sonia recollects. 

“Growing up in the mountains means becoming a good man. There is no need for discipline, because nature grows you into a kind and honest person, just as David was” says David’s aunt.

David was the youngest in his family and had one sister. After graduating high school, he was accepted into the Bryusov University to earn a degree in tourism but immediately was enlisted in the army. 

“David was tall and had the most beautiful eyes. He called me from Kapan and said ‘Hey Grandma, do you know where I am, when we would climb the mountain and above the cross there is a forest, I’m in that forest’” and as David’s grandmother was speaking, she was interrupted and asked to stand up and allow the other funerals to proceed. 

Yerablur military personnel who oversee funeral proceedings said that today there were two funerals and few days before, seven other soldiers were buried. 

After the burials of the fallen soldiers, the funerals were concluded with a trumpet fanfare and anthem song. Workers there to maintain the cemetery took a moment, looked towards the fallen, and resumed their work.