Constantine ‘Connie’ Chioles was born on June 1, 1915, in Aurora, Illinois. He was the son of Samuel Konstantine and Emily Chioles. Samuel immigrated to the United States in the early 1900's along with his brother John Konstantine Chioles. Their heritage was from Levidi in Arkadia, few kilometers outside Tripolis. The Greek spelling of their surname was originally Tsioles. Αt least eight members of Chioles family immigrated to the US and initially settled in Aurora, Illinois, between them the two brothers which managed to established a candy store which they operated for some time until they moved to Chicago. Connie was born and grew up in Aurora. Before WWII he worked for the railroads. He enlisted in the US Army Air Corp on May 14, 1942. Before being posted overseas for duty he served as an instructor in the advanced training ......

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https://www.greeks-in-foreign-cockpits.com/pilots-crews/fighter-pilots/constantine-chioles/

Konstantinos 'Dinos' Stylianopoulos is a special kind of a Greek in foreign cockpits. Born and raised in Greece, he left for studies in the United States of America dreaming of being an airline pilot, gained his citizenship and enlisted to the USAF, trained by HAF Officers during Euro-Nato pilot training programme in Sheppard AFB, TX and finally becoming a pilot in one of the hottest fighters ever made, the famous McDonell Douglas F-15 Eagle. After he left the Air Force he flew in numerous airlines and now he flies over the Pacific with the Cathay Pacific Airlines, big airliners like the Boeing 747 and Boeing 777. No one could write about him better than he did, in our introductory note for our Volume B' of GREEKS IN FOREIGN COCKPITS.

"Its the fall of 1984. I had finished high school and was with my first girlfriend, Tessy, riding across the coastal freeway in Glifada, next to Athens airport in my Simonini 50CC (special pistons made it very powerful) motocross bike making noise. I had barely finished high school by the skin of my teeth (reexaminations for four subjects) without getting admitted to any Greek Universities. It has always been very competitive and my lack of studying combined with excessive semi-pro soccer playing at the age of 17 sure did not contribute. We stopped at a gas station to fill up with the special mix for 2-stroke bike engines and I see a big jet taking off from the old Athens Airport in Hellenikon...and it hit me...why didn't I think of that earlier.....

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https://www.greeks-in-foreign-cockpits.com/pilots-crews/fighter-pilots/kostas_stylianopoulos/

1st Lt Christos Mugianis (aka Christ Manners) was born October 14, 1921, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was the son of Greek immigrants. His parents were Diamandis Mugianis and Mary Vassilaros who came to the USA in 1902 from the Greek island of Icaria in the Aegean Sea. The couple had also 2 more daughters, Mary and Ann as well as two more sons, John and George. During September 1940, the family changed the name to Manners as it was easiest to pronounced by the Americans. Diamandis was an industrial paint contractor and he created a company named D. Mugianis and Sons Inc. The WW2 was the reason for Christ to enlist in the USAAF although it isn't known if he was an aviation enthusiast. It must be noted that the family had already a member with wartime experience. A cousin of Christ, although much older, with the same name, Christos Mugianis was born in Greece and fought at a very young age during the Asia Minor Greek campaign. He later immigrated to the United States and....

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https://www.greeks-in-foreign-cockpits.com/pilots-crews/bombardiers-and-navigators/christos-mougianis/

Samuel A. Assimotos was born in Constantinople on June 4, 1919. According to his daughter Sandra Assimotos, the name spelling isn’t correct, may be changed when her grandparents emigrated. They came to the United States in 1920 when Samuel was 6 months, because of the continues Turkish threats against Greeks. His father Anthony Assimotos had no other family in the US and his mother named Bessie Meshitis had a lot of her sisters with her, as all came to the US at the same time. They also were from Constantinople. He enlisted in the United States Army Air Force and promoted to 2nd Lt, after he took Navigation Training on April 10, 1943. For the next two months, he was posted to Pyote and Dalhart, Texas in order to get his Combat Crew Training and posted overseas for combat duty. During his training, his crew involved in one of the most famous incidents in the US during the War. The bombing of ......

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https://www.greeks-in-foreign-cockpits.com/pilots-crews/bombardiers-and-navigators/samuel-assimotos/

Jim was the first born son of John D. Pitas (a Greek Immigrant) and Eva Collins Pitas (the daughter of a lumberjack). He was born on November 22, 1924, and raised in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and graduated from Fond du Lac Senior High School. His father, John James Pitas, emigrated from Samos. John joined the US Army at age 14 (lied about his age as many did) so he could gain US citizenship. John came to the US with 2 brothers who were both older than him. One stayed on the east coast and I'm not sure where the other one settled. John came to Fond du Lac by himself as a teenage boy knowing zero English. He settled in with the Greek community in town. Became a barber and then

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https://www.greeks-in-foreign-cockpits.com/pilots-crews/gunners/james-pitas/

One of the most intrigued pilot careers of Greek Americans is the one of Terry Pappas. We can definitely say that he is the fastest Greek heritage pilot in history, as he was privileged to fly the marvelous SR-71 Blackbird. During our communication with him wrote to us about his family history.

“My grandfather, Nikos Papapostolou Pappas was from Petrona, a small community above Agrinio in the region of Aetolokarnania. From Athens, you take the highway towards Patras and turn onto the new bridge call Rio Antirio towards Agrinio and.......

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https://www.greeks-in-foreign-cockpits.com/pilots-crews/fighter-pilots/terry-pappas/

Andrew Anzanos story is a great one. A fearless gunner, serving in the 8th AF Bomber Command, flying over Europe in his B-17 and defending it from the enemy attacks from his upper turret twin 0,50''s. After the war, he became an aeronautical engineer, he obtained his pilot license and later worked for McDonnell Douglas in various aircraft and space programs. Our team was lucky to be in touch with him many years ago. Unfortunately that time we were just researching as we didn't have the resources to have either a website or writing books. Now its time to honor him. We are very proud that we had a chance to exchange emails and learn more about him. Andrew was able to publish a book with his memoirs, entitled as 'My Combat Diary with 'Liberty Bell-E' - Eight Air Force B-17, 390th Bomb Group'. His biography was copied by his book (which were happy to get a signed copy by himself), while we added some further info, especially for his Greek heritage as he wrote it in a letter to George Chalkiadopoulos. Andrew Anzanos was born of Greek immigrant parents on Feb.22, 1924 in Gary, Indiana.........

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https://www.greeks-in-foreign-cockpits.com/pilots-crews/gunners/andy-anzanos/

Can you imagine a 19 years old man, navigating a B-17 Flying Fortress, heavy bomber? How did this young Greek - American airman felt when he lost his leg during his fourth mission from German anti-aircraft fire? War is cruel but from the war ashes, great men born. Men righteously called as being members of the GREATEST GENERATION. One such man is also George Nicolau, 93 years old today. His story will be the opening story for the Bombardiers - Navigators subpage. More to follow.

https://www.greeks-in-foreign-cockpits.com/pilots-crews/bombardiers-and-navigators/george_nikolau/