Monte Melkonian Fund

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Summer 1979. Monte in Beirut. After a rightist massacre of Armenians in September, 1979, Monte worked clandestinely on behalf of the Lebanese National Movement. In May 1980, he joined ASALA, a militant Amenian group that, among other things, attacked Turkish diplomatic staff in Europe. During the Israeli invasion in 1981, he served on the front lines in Southern Lebanon as an artillery spotter, helping to inflict heavy casualties on Israeli invaders (including a direct hit on an Israeli tank at the Khardali bridge). Throughout the summer of 1982, he fought on the front lines to help defend Beirut against a massive Israeli invasion that caused the death of over 17,000 civilians.