Technical Sergeant Thomas Efstathiou USMC was born on May 22, 1918, in Bronx New York. He was the son of the Greek immigrant couple, John and Mary Efstathiou who also had one more son, George. Thomas was raised within the Greek community and according to his military file, he spoke Greek very well. After school, he worked in Steel Construction as a Power Shearer. He enlisted as a private in the USMC recruiting station in New York on June 20, 1938, to serve for a 4-year period. Until 1941 when he extends his enlistment for three more years he served as a metalsmith in various USMC Squadrons including VMF-1 and VMS-1 and was promoted first a Corporal (10/06/1940) and then as a Sergeant (03/06/1941). He applied for naval aviator training and after successfully passing a written examination to determine his education status on June 9, 1941, he joined NAS Pensacola on November 22, 1941, entering the 11B-41P Class. He was designated as a Naval Aviation Pilot of the USMC, on May 7, 1942, specializing in ...

 

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