SOLDIER REMEMBERED AS A PATRIOT
By Eugene Tong, Staff Writer
Los Angeles Daily News
Feb 11 2007
In the eyes of her father, Carla Babayan Stewart was always his
beautiful daughter with an infectious smile.
But at Saturday’s memorial service for the 37-year-old Army specialist
killed in a convoy accident in Iraq last month, she had become
much more.
"I thought I was the tough one, the patriot of the family," said Edmond
Babayan, Stewart’s father and a retired Marine. "This young lady, she
said if her unit wasn’t called, she was going to go on her own anyway.
"I’m humbled by you, Carla. You turned out to be the brave, the tough,
the best patriot of all of us. All I can say is until we meet again,
I have to do my final salute to you as a humble Marine to my beautiful,
tough hero."
Babayan saluted his daughter’s flag-draped casket, then fell to his
knees in prayer as about 300 family and friends gathered at Forest
Lawn Memorial-Park Hollywood Hills cemetery to remember Stewart’s life.
Born in La Canada Flintridge, she enlisted in the Army Reserves about
two years ago and was assigned to the 250th Transportation Company
based in El Monte.
After completing basic training at Fort Jackson, S.C., Stewart was
deployed to Iraq. She was killed Jan. 28 when her vehicle overturned
in Tallil.
Stewart’s mother, Emmy Aprahamian, said her daughter showed
immeasurable kindness toward others.
"Carla knew that our individual duty and responsibility in life is
to polish our souls and become better human beings," she said. "By
doing so, we heal ourselves and heal humanity at large.
"She was the light. She is my light."
That theme ran throughout the service – from the benediction delivered
by Archbishop Mousheg Mardirossian of the Armenian Apostolic Church
to the reflective dignity of the military funeral.
Uniformed soldiers punctuated the service with taps and a rifle
salute, while Stewart’s parents and brother released 37 white doves –
one for each year of her life.
"The best we can do is to remember Carla as she lived, bringing life,
love and joy to those who knew her and pride to a nation," said Esther
Agopian, who delivered the eulogy.
"We marvel at your will and we will always celebrate your strength,
your courage and your conviction," she said of Stewart’s memory.
The older of two siblings, Stewart grew up in La Ca ada Flintridge
and Glendale. She was an accomplished ballet dancer and enjoyed the
outdoors. She married Brendan Stewart in 1995.
Her brother, Richard "Rick" Babayan, was her "forever best friend,"
Agopian said. "With Carla and Rick as the dynamic duo, there never
was a dull moment in the Babayan household."
Yet Carla Stewart always yearned for a meaningful life in service
to others.
"Many times she would say to Rick, `It shouldn’t be either-or, should
it? Peace and justice should belong to all people, everywhere, all
the time; isn’t that right?"’ Agopian said.
Her fellow service members nicknamed her "Stuart Little" after a
helpful mouse in children’s books.
"(She was) always first to help with the biggest of tasks and always
greeted you with the biggest smile," said Agopian, reading an e-mail
from Sgt. Fredrick E. Moore, who served with Stewart.
In the message, Moore related a poem read during her Feb. 6 funeral
service in Iraq.
"We thought we felt your touch today in the breeze that rustled by,
and then we heard the angels say her spirit will never die."
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