by Dimitri C. Michalakis

“I think the legacy of Chios and the Chian Federation is one of service and celebration and absolute dedication to the ideals of the United States and Greece,” the admiral said in a press conference before the gala. “I am proud to be here as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, and I want to say thank you to Greece for the hard work in the NATO alliance, and to all in the Greek American community here for their wonderful support to the United States of America.”

The admiral is a native of south Florida and a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. His grandparents emigrated from Asia Minor and his father fought in three wars with the U.S. Marine Corps. The admiral was present at the gala with his wife Laura and his daughter Christina.

“From my grandfather, Dimitrios, who shares today his name day with me and the other Dimitrios’ in the audience, my grandfather showed me the value of hard work, a simple thing known to everybody in this room,” said the admiral in his remarks at the gala. “And my father, George, showed me love of my country.”

“I stand before you tonight as the latest recipient of this extraordinary award and I want to begin by saying thank you to those from Chios,” he said, “an island which is at the heart of Greek values—everyone is a Chian, everyone is from Chios, and shares in these wonderful values.”

“Tonight, as we celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the freedom of the island of Chios—join me in a round of applause--as we celebrate ourselves on this spectacular evening, I will say we must sail on in our lives, we must set goals, we must have a vision for what we want to accomplish, we must experience life as Ulysses did,” he concluded. “Life is about sailing on, it is about movement, we cannot remain at anchor, we must move forward always. This is what we do as Greek Americans and I am very proud to receive this marvelous award, and as the keynote speaker mentioned of Themistocles at the Battle of Salamis, together with you to row to freedom.”

Markos K. Marinakis was chairman of the Homeric Award Committee and he said all Chians and all Greek Americans were proud of the admiral’s service to the nation.

“The Homeric Award is an honor bestowed upon distinguished individuals who advocate human rights and democratic ideals and who have worked to strengthen relations between the United States and Greece,” he said. “As a proud Greek American, and the highest ranking Greek American in the nation’s armed forces, Admiral Stavridis, with his strong commitment to public service, democracy and freedom, is an exemplary model to humanity.”

Federation president Stavros Haviaras said, “It is an honor for all Greeks to have among us distinguished individuals of Greek descent such as Admiral Stavridis, who have performed outstanding service for all of humanity. Even more so, it is appropriate on the centennial of the liberation of our beloved island to honor an admiral, because it was another admiral, Pavlos Kountouriotis, who planned the campaign to free Chios. In the person of Admiral Stavridis we honor all seamen and sailors who fought and sacrificed to enable us to live free.”

The keynote speaker of the evening was Philip Christopher, past president and founder of the Pancyprian Association of America and a longtime activist for Greek issues, who praised the Chian Federation for being “in the forefront of all national Greek issues for so many years.” He also praised the Homeric Award because “it stands for freedom, for Hellenic values, and for Hellenic ideals, which are the same ideas America espouses.”

“Many people say to me that with such a prestigious award as the Homeric Award, perhaps you should present it at the Waldorf Astoria, or the Hilton,” he said. “But we tell them that it was in this house where the demonstrations in Washington started back in ’74: this is where freedom rose for all of us Hellenes, not only here in NY, but across the nation.”

He added, “I know that supporting the Chian Federation and the Homeric Award is not only an obligation, it is really something that we have to do every year because of what it stands for and what we are fighting for. We are fighting for Greek national issues. And at a time when we are searching for solutions, at a time when we are searching for heroes, the new Greek American generation should be looking to Admiral Stavridis, because he is a real role model for Greek Americans today. We are very, very proud because Admiral Stavridis is the supreme commander of all allied forces of NATO--28 countries of NATO--a Greek American is the supreme commander. He is also the European commander—51 countries of Europe—and the commander is Dimitrios Stavridis, a Greek American.”

Nicholas Poulis also spoke about the HelpChios Relief Fund which he heads, and which provides money, food and clothing to the needy in Chios and supplies sisitias, or food pantries, run by the Metropolis of Chios. (Dr. Nicholas Rallis is co-chair of the fund, which is under the auspices of the Federation’s Geriatric Foundation headed by Alex Doulis.)

“The mission of the HelpChios Relief Fund is very simple: to help feed the Chians under the depressing circumstances due to the economic crisis,” said Poulis. “On a monthly basis we send funds to the Metropolis, which runs a soup kitchen under the supervision of Metropolitan Markos. What we are doing is helping human beings that are being devastated by the economic depression in Greece.”
Other speakers that evening were Greek Consul General George Iliopoulos, Cyprus Consul General Koula Sophianou, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, State Senator Michael Gianaris, Councilman Peter Vallone and New York City Comptroller John Liu.

The master of ceremonies was former assemblyman Matthew Mirones.

Fiora Kyrou sang both the U.S. and Greek national anthems, the Syn-Phonia Orchestra performed, and performing in period costume was the Federation’s Dance Group of the Women’s Auxiliary, which is headed by Maria Papagiannakis.

Co-chairs for the Homeric Award gala were Amalia Bournias and Captain Nicholas Skarvelis.

Also announced in the special journal for the evening were the winners of the Federation’s Eleftheria Centennial National Essay Contest. At the graduate level, First Prize went to Irene Milonas Maris, Second Prize, Dimos Karidas, Third Prize, Christina Kosmidis. At the undergraduate level: First Prize, Eric (Kafantaras) Hand, Second Prize, Daphne Karidas, Third Prize, Sophia Scoufaras. At the high school level, First Prize, Angeliki Nikoletta Tsoumpariotis, Second Prize, Demetrios Kyriannis, Third Prize, Kira Tsougarakis.