Manookian was the oldest of three children born to a Christian Armenian family in Istanbul . As a teenager , he survived the Armenian Genocide . Manookian immigrated to the United States in 1920 . At the age of 16 he studied illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design . Later he took classes at the Art Students League of New York before enlisting in the United States Marine Corps in 1923 . While serving in the U. S. Marine Corps he was assigned as a clerk to the author and historian , Major Edwin North McClellan
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Arman Manookian