Helper and Friend “What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like” (Saint Augustine). True love comes from those who risk their own lives to do what is right and end the suffering of others. The hundreds of heroes during the Armenian Genocide show the love that rests only in the human race. Asa Kent Jennings is one of the most remembered heroes of the genocide. Standing just above five feet tall, the American, YMCA employee saved countless innocent lives. His story began when he formed the American Relief Committee to aid Greek and Armenian refugees that had been …show more content…
This was after the Armenian Genocide was officially considered to be over, however, the massacre of Armenians did not end until 1923 (Jennings). A fire had been set ablaze putting the people in between an inferno and the ocean. After the fire had finally died, 80 percent of the city turned to ash (Ureneck). American and British warships evacuated their own citizens out of Smyrna, but left the 350,000 Greek and Armenian refugees on the shore. The only American who stayed was Asa Kent Jennings. Without anybody to advise him on the best course of action, Jennings had to decide on what he felt needed to be done. Seeing the thousands of refugees cowering on the shore, Jennings met with Mustafa Kemal, the Turkish Supreme Leader. Although Kamal did not intend to exterminate the refugees, he had no intention of removing them from their poor conditions on the shore. Jennings met with Kamal to ask for his permission to move the refugees to a safer place. Kemal saw this as an opportunity to make peace between the Turks and the non-muslim refugees. He decided to grant Jennings permission, but only with the following conditions: the refugees only have seven days to leave Smyrna, the