Chester Daily Local.com, PA
March 15 2008

Translator from Honey Brook killed in Iraq

By STEPHANIE K. WHALEN, Special to the Local News

A 36-year-old civilian translator from Honey Brook was killed March
10 in Iraq, two weeks shy of the date he was supposed to return home,
said sources close to the family.

Albert Haroutounian, known as Albert Babaian to friends, was working
with Trinity Inc., a small company that employs translators across
the globe and apparently has contracts with the U.S. military, so he
could make enough money to open a pizza shop in Delaware County.

Monday, those dreams were destroyed by a suicide bomber near Baghdad
who detonated his explosives about 30 feet away, according to
Associated Press reports.

The blast was the deadliest attack on American forces in Baghdad in
more than eight months, killing five and injuring three U.S.
soldiers.

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When early news reports stated that `an Iraqi interpreter’ was also
wounded in the attack, Jessica Jones, a close friend of the
Haroutounian family, said her blood ran cold.

`I was holding my breath and hoping it wasn’t him,’ said Jones, whose
children familiarly called Haroutounian `Uncle Albert.’

`He was like a brother to me.’

According to Jones, she became acquainted with Haroutounian

through his brothers, who she said lived in various parts of Delaware
County and Chester County after emigrating from Kuwait in the 1980s.

Haroutounian’s Web site, , stated his grandparents
had fled Armenia, his native country, during the Ottoman Empire’s
genocide of the Armenian people and settled in Kuwait, where he was
born and spent most of his youth.

When Haroutounian was 14 years old, his father took him and his
brothers to the U.S. a few months after the death of his mother,
Azadouhiy Nalbandian Baba.

Once in the country, Haroutounian became a citizen and attended
school near Upper Darby for a few years before he had to drop out and
enter the work force.

Haroutounian had since dabbled in contracting and handyman work, but
Jones said his dream of opening his own pizza shop was the impetus
behind working as a civilian translator in Iraq. According to his Web
site, Haroutounian was fluent in Armenian, Arabic and English.

Jones said no translation was necessary when it came to understanding
what kind of person he was or what kind of life he desired.

`Honestly, he was the sweetest guy, ever,’ she said, between tears.

`He used to travel every single day – twice a day – from Newtown
Square to Upper Darby, just to help this elderly woman get the
medications she needed. Albert had no relationship with her; he just
knew that she needed his help.

`That’s just the kind of person he was; he didn’t need a reason to
help anyone – he just did.’

Haroutounian’s Web site stated he had since changed his middle name
to Azaduhie, in memory of his beloved mother, which means `freedom,
or to be free,’ in Armenian.

According to his mission statement, `Haroutounian’s vision is to
educate, feed and house as many people as possible from all corners
of the world …

`Mr. Haroutounian wishes that one day he establishes such an
organization, not to give away anything for free, but simply offering
people an opportunity and a push towards a great advancement one that
many never get in a lifetime.’

Haroutounian was in the process of publishing at least five books in
English, some of which were loosely based on his own life
experiences. Haroutounian wrote and released `The Clock Doc’ before
his death.

Apparently, his plans to serve his country in Iraq were kept secret
from close friends and family until he had already ventured overseas.

`No one knew he was going,’ said Jones, `And then one day he called
us from (Iraq) and told us what he was doing. He told us he had two
weeks left.’

Services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday at Labs Funeral Home, 141
Pequea Ave., Honey Brook. Burial will follow at Honey Brook Methodist
Cemetery. Friends and family may call from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Tuesday at
the funeral home.

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress