Yerevan honors legendary pilot Nelson Stepanyan`s memory

ArmInfo.A flower-laying ceremony was held in Yerevan at the monument to Soviet Navy attack aircraft pilot and two-time Hero of the Soviet Union Nelson Stepanyan, marking the 133rd anniversary of his birth.

According to the press service of the Russian House in Armenia, Simon  Yesayan, chairman of the veterans' association, opened the ceremony,  recalling Stepanyan's human qualities. "He was a simple and humble  man. To his subordinates, he was a father, a teacher, a friend, and a  commander. He was never content with what he knew-he was constantly  searching for new aerial combat techniques, new ways to strike the  enemy. He was a true terror for the enemy," Yesayan noted. 

The chairman of the veterans' association added  that Stepanyan had  239 combat sorties to his credit-both group and individual-destroying  53 ships, 80 tanks, 600 vehicles, 27 aircraft, 40 railway cars, 140  anti- aircraft guns, and 4 crossings. "Nelson Stepanyan fell in  battle on December 14, 1944, over the port of Liepaja on the  Baltic-on the threshold of Victory, for which he fought to the last.  He gave his life at 31 years old for the Victory he had striven for  with complete dedication," Yesayan concluded. 

According to the source, the event was attended by representatives  from the Russian House, led by Director Vadim Fefilov, as well as  representatives from diplomatic missions, the military attache's  office, the Trade Mission, the Rosatom State Corporation,  representatives from the Yerevan City Hall, veterans, members of the  "Young Friends of Border Guards" public-patriotic movement, and  representatives from public organizations. The event was organized by  the Marshal Baghramyan Veterans' Association.