Staff Sergeant Argery Harry Kavafes, son of Greek immigrants, was born in Long Island, New York, on November 18, 1921. His father, Alexandros Argyriou Kavafes, was born on August 20, 1885, in the Forty Churches (Kirk Kilisse) in Eastern Thrace. This city is in the European part of Turkey, near the border with Bulgaria, and today is known as Kirk Areli. The emergence of the Turkish Nationalism movement in 1908 and the policies of intimidation that began to be applied against Christians, forced many Greek people living in that area to immigrate. The then 25-year-old Alexander left for the United States, looking for a better future across the Atlantic. On May 20, 1910, he arrived in New York, where he settled permanently, working as a shoemaker. After years of hard work, he finally managed to open his own shoe store in Queens, New York. On December 19, 1920, he married his wife Chrysoula (Chressy Spyridon), her heritage also was from the Forty Churches (translated in Greek as Saranta Eklessies). It is worthy to note that after the population exchange in 1923, most of the city's inhabitants...

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Born in Richmond, Calif., in 1922, John and his sister Martha were the children of Greek immigrants Anthony and Iphigenia Papadakis. He attended the San Francisco City College and completed the CPT program and he was there when Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941. John immediately volunteered and was accepted into the U.S. Navy pilot training program. So began his lifelong love of aviation. From his file, we know that except for English he also spoke Greek, Spanish, and French. He enlisted as an Aviation Cadet V-5 in NACSB - Naval Aviation Cadet Selection Board on October 9, 1942. He was transferred to U.S. Navy Pre-Flight School at St. Mary’s College, California on May 6, 1943. He continued his Primary Flight Training in NAS Pasco, Washington on July 29, 1943, and completed it successfully on October 14, 1943. Two days later he received orders to move to NAS Corpus Christi, Texas for Basic Training and arrived there on October 21. Commissioned as an ensign Naval Aviator, at Corpus Christi, Texas on April 5, 1944. Served with...

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George G. Contos was born on March 12, 1923, in Canton, Stark, Ohio. He was the son of Konstantinos (Gust) Contos and Calliope Fanouriakis from the village Archanes in Crete, Greece. Both came to Fairhope, Ohio in 1920 and Gust worked for Republic Steel Corporation and retired from there after 35 years. The couple also had two more sons and two daughters. After school George also worked as a metalworker for Republic Steel Corporation. The entry of the United States in the Second World War urged him to join the fight as many Greek Americans did. Contos was commissioned in the United States Army Air Force on December 5, 1943. He received his ...

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Lieutenant Nicholas Stampolis story is a sad story, nevertheless, a story that reminds us of the sacrifices made by young men all over the world during the fight against the Axis in WW2. It’s also a story that's totally dependent on the story of his best friend, also Greek American USAAF pilot, Arthur (Athanasios) Sougas, or Andy as he was known to his friends. There is no way to refer to one of them without mentioning the other. Nicholas was the first child and son of Peter Stampolis and Chrysoula Mechalas Stampolis followed by two sisters, Corina and Stella, and one more brother, Anthony. Μost information regarding their early days became known from the article "The Fall of Hermes" published for the first time in Air Classics Magazine, issue, July 2004 by Gerard Pahl.

"Nicholas Stampolis and Arthur Sugas were inseparable. The boys typically went through the school system and at one time attended McKinley Elementary where, perhaps, both received their introduction to aviation, for it was there that movies were shown on the outside wall of the school on warm summer evenings. Sometimes an aircraft would visit what was then the Lindbergh.....

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Michael S. Alexatos was born in Titusville, Pennsylvania on August 29, 1919, the son of Peter Alexatos and Kalomoira Potamianos from Kefalonia. He entered the Navy as an Ensign in July 1942. Upon arriving at Corpus Christi he requested the Fleet instead of duty as a flight instructor. After completing flight training, he was assigned to VF-1 which was later based on Tarawa (with strikes against the Marshall Islands), and on the USS Yorktown (CV-10) where he participated in strikes against the Marianas, Bonin Islands, Caroline Islands, and the First Battle of the Philippine Sea, flying the famous F6F Hellcat. He was credited with two Zeros and one more as probable. During the operations in the Pacific, he earned the “MAD GREEK” call sign. He joined VF-7 in 1945 and was with that squadron until the end of World War II. He was then assigned to the Photographic Division under the Bureau of Aeronautics (BUAER) in Washington D.C., where he spent two years after which he was transferred to Villanova College for one year under the Holloway Program. He was next assigned to VF-72 in 1948, and after...

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S/Sgt Peter J. Dascoulias was the son of Greek immigrants and was born in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, on January 10, 1921. His father's name was John Dascoulias and he came from Mavria, a small village in the Prefecture of Arcadia, in southern Greece, which administratively belongs to the municipality of Gortynia, in Karytaina. Born on May 27, 1882, in a large, however poor, family, he was forced from a young age to work hard to survive. In 1914, four of his brothers immigrated to relatives in the United States, and two years later, he made the big decision to emigrate. On August 21, 1915, the 33-year-old John Dascoulias married in Karytaina, his beloved Christina Anastasiou (or Liatsimis). The following year they set sail for the United States aboard the passenger ship "PATRIS", arriving in New York on August 18, 1916. The couple first settled in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, where John found a job as a worker in a steel factory. In a matter of 6 years, they were blessed with five children, specifically Zaphiria (1917), George (1918), Gust (1919), Peter (1921), and Christina (1922). Unfortunately in 1926, John lost his job and along with his wife and children, was forced to move to Middleboro, Massachusetts. In 1933 they changed their place of residence once again, as they settled permanently in Warren, Ohio, where John found a permanent...

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Peter Valachos was born in 1915 in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. He was the son of James Valachos, a pioneer of the local Greeks in Brantford, Ontario, having come to Canada in 1904. The couple also had three daughters,  Evelyn (Coulos),  Lillian (Roda), and Kathleen (Hawken), and two more sons,  William and George.  He established the Olympia Candy, a landmark of this city which up to 1953 was run by his sons and daughters. Two of his sons served with the Canadian Army, Peter with the Air Force and William with the Army. Peter prior to joining the RAF in 1938 he served in the Dufferin Rifles in Canada. Ηe was also a licensed pilot in Canada and the fact that he was Greek gave him relative publicity as can be seen below, in  A Publisher Extra Newspaper dating September 14, 1938:

"From information received from the secretary of the Brant-Norfolk Aero Club, Brantford, Ontario, Canada, we learn that Peter J. Valachos, age 23, is perhaps the only Greek aviator in Canada. He is now ...

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Angela Karamanos was born on 25 January 1996, a second-generation Greek American, child of John and Stella Karamanos. Her grandfather and grandmother from her father's side, Christopher and Penny Karamanos heritage is from Gytheio and Stoupa in Laconia and Messinia district. Similarly from her mother's side, Peter and Tia Paterrakis's heritage is from Crete (actually Angela is related to a previous USAF Thunderbird Commander and Vietnam War veteran, Chris G. Paterrakis - https://www.greeks-in-foreign-cockpits.com/pilots-crews/fighter-pilots/chris-patterakis/). Both families immigrated to the United States after WW2. Angela is fully aware of her great heritage and according to her words:

"I love my heritage and it has played a huge role in how I’ve grown up. Making people...

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John Kantjas was born in Deary, Idaho, on August 29, 1919, and was the son of Nicolas J. Kantjas, a Greek emigrant, and his wife Winnifred Grace Taylor. Nicolas's origin was probably from Mainalo, a small Greek village in Tripoli, in the Peloponesse area, and his original name was Nikolaos Kantzavelos. When he arrived in Ellis Island in 1905 at the age of 22 years old he shortened it to be easier to pronounce in English. Nicolas wasn't the only one from his family to immigrate. His brother Napoleon came also and lived in Chicago, Illinois according to John’s recollections. Unfortunately, Nicolas died when John was only 13 years old. Because he had a younger brother and a sister and because his sister was mentally ill, his mother sent him to live on a friend's ranch in Idaho. He loved that place - always talked about it. He was an avid outdoorsman - loved to hunt, fish, and camp. After high school he worked his way through college by working as a lumberjack and afterward he attended the University of Idaho, studying logistics, to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). According to his daughter Linda:

"I heard that while he was on the Lexington Carrier he used to study hard for the CPA exam instead of goofing around with the others."

Probably while at ...

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Samuel Soulis was born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1922, the son of Steve Soulis from Kalambaka, Trikala, and Katherine Arseniou Soulis. Later his family moved to Albany, New York. He graduated from Albany High School in 1940 and attended the College of St. Rose and Russell Sage. On July 28, 1942, he enlisted the US Army and entered the Gulf Coast Training Command with classification and preflight training in San Antonio Texas while his primary flight training took place in Coleman, Texas flying PT-19s with the 304th AAFFT. He continued his basic flight training in Waco Texas and advanced flying training in Eagle Pass, Texas. He graduated with Class 43-J as a Flight Officer and before his transfer overseas he completed his Operational Flight Training in Harris Neck, Georgia. While there he was attached to the 500th Fighter Bomber Squadron flying with AT-6 Harvards, P-40N Warhawks, and A-36 Apaches. According to the AAIR website, Samuel S. Soulis had an accident (LACSSP 5) in P-40N 43-24109 at Harris Neck AAF in Newport, Georgia, on March 27, 1944. LACSSP means Landing Accident, Stall/Spin, and 5 is the most serious category, which means the aircraft was destroyed. In the summer of 1944, he was posted overseas for combat duty. In August 1944 he was attached to CBI A.F.T.C for operational training. He flew ...

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