Israeli President Shimon Peres presented an honorary certificate to 23-year-old sergeant Denis Khachaturian on the occasion of Israel’s Independence Day marked on April 26.

Khachaturian is a commander of the training course for technicians to maintain fighter aircrafts.

The award was presented to him for his contribution to the training of young professionals, many of them were troubled teenagers.

”I myself was such a teen, so I know how to deal with them. I came to Israel when I was 12 years old. I could not speak a word of Hebrew, had no friends, and of course, made ​​friends with not the best audience. I was doing foolish things but then I went to a military boarding school to gain a little bit of discipline,” Khachaturian told IzRus portal.

Khachaturian said the decision to be a serviceman was made, in particular, and because of family history. His grandmother survived the Holocaust, visited several camps of which she managed to escape. His grandfather served as a tank commander. He was first to burst onto his tank into the territory of the Treblinka extermination camp in Poland.