Attendance of the Deputy Minister of National Defence Mr Nikolaos Chardalias at the Memorial Service for the Fallen Heroes of our Air Force in Thermo Aetolia – Acarnania and[...]

Home >Deputy Minister Photo Gallery> Attendance of the Deputy Minister of National Defence Mr Nikolaos Chardalias at the Memorial Service for the Fallen Heroes of our Air Force in Thermo Aetolia - Acarnania and the Deputy Minister's Award of the City's Golden Metal Upon Unanimous Decision of the Municipal Board

Attendance of the Deputy Minister of National Defence Mr Nikolaos Chardalias at the Memorial Service for the Fallen Heroes of our Air Force in Thermo Aetolia - Acarnania and the Deputy Minister's Award of the City's Golden Metal Upon Unanimous Decision of the Municipal Board

August 19, 2022

On Friday, 19 August 2022, the Deputy Minister of National Defence, Mr Nikolaos Chardalias represented the Hellenic Government in the commemorative events, which were organised by Aetolia and Acarnania Thermo Municipality, at Aghios Kosmas hill, in Mega Dendro, in honour of the Hellenic Air Force Aviation Officers killed in action, First Lieutenant (AF) Nikolaos Sialmas, Second Lieutenant (AF) Konstantinos Kontogiorgos, Master Sergeant (AF) Evangelos Stathopoulos, Staff Sergeant (AF) Vassilios Kourkoutas and Staff Sergeant (AF) Efstathios Tsigas.

The Deputy Minister of National Defence attended the brief memorial service in memory of the five Aviation Officers, he unveiled the busts of the Aviation Officers Master Sergeant (AF) Evangelos Stathopoulos, Staff Sergeant (AF) Vassilios Kourkoutas and Staff Sergeant (AF) Efstathios Tsigas and laid a wreath in the Memorial of the heroes, along with relatives of the heroic members of the Hellenic Air Force, the Mayor of Thermo Mr Spyridonas Konstantaras and HNDGS/Chief of Staff Lieutenant General (AF) Konstantinos Kellaris (representing HNDGS/Chief).

Mr Chardalias also visited the photographic and original historical records exhibition entitled "Asia Minor-Historical Memories", hosted in Thermo Town Hall Atrium.

The Deputy Minister of National Defence was awarded the Golden Medal of the city of Thermo, upon unanimous decision of the Executive Board, by the Mayor of Thermo, for his contribution during the last three years, regarding crises management issues.

The events were attended by the MPs of Aetolia and Acarnania Mr Athanassios Moraitis (representing the Hellenic Parliament) and Mr Dimitrios Konstantopoulos, the Regional Governor of West Greece Mr Nektarios Farmakis, His Eminence the Archbishop of Efkarpia Ierotheos, the Mayor of the Sacred City of Messolonghi Mr Konstantinos Lyros and the Mayor of Xiromero Mr Ioannis Triantafyllakis, HAGS/HNGS/HAFGS/Chiefs' representatives, members of the Armed and Police Forces, as well as members of the Pan-hellenic Union of Fallen Airmen Families.

In the context of the events, the Deputy Minister of National Defence delivered the ceremonial speech, stating the following:

"I attend today's remembrance ceremony deeply touched, paying the least tribute on behalf of the State to the heroic members our Air Force, who sacrificed themselves during the fulfilment of their duty and the execution of their mission with courage and self-denial, giving their life willingly for Faith and Motherland.

The glorious path of our Air Force, since its establishment in 1911, was marked by men with vision, passion, persistence, insight and of course selfless love for the Country, who placed duty above any consideration for themselves, risking their lives everyday, in order to serve their values and ideals.

To all those men and especially those who have fallen fulfilling their duty, we owe eternal respect and gratitude. Because all of them, kept their oaths until the end and showed the meaning of serving the flag till the "last drop of their blood" through their sacrifice.

The Greek society, an inheritor of the great historic heritage of the Nation, faces the sacrifice of all fallen airmen while fulfilling their duty as an act with special moral symbolism, as the highest contribution to the Country and as an uncontested evidence of exemplary devotion to our race's ideals.

So, their sacrifice justifies itself through immortality, long lasting glory, collective memory, showing this way, the free spirit of the proud Greek people, the everlasting values of its civilization, the ideals of its education and its nonnegotiable decision to always fight with passion, for their beliefs and ideals. With today's event, we do not only honour, as an ordinary obligation, those who placed the Country above their lives, but we take this opportunity respecting historic remembrance, to declare our determination to follow our historic destiny, in the path of duty, to defend the ideals of Hellenism.

With the sacrifice of our airmen, we do not only take lessons of virtue, courage, self-sacrifice and self-denial , but also standards of faith, free spirit and great ideals, capable of awakening the inexhaustible powers of Hellenism, for future progress, welfare and growth.

Here, from Aghios Kosmas hill, at Thermo, Aetolia and Acarnania, we bow our head before the five unfairly fallen airmen, paying the owed tribute, all of them residents of the wider Thermo Municipality, of this small but historic place, with the special everlasting contribution to the history of the Country.

All five "fell" on duty:
First Lieutenant (AF) Nikolaos Sialmas crashed on 18 June 1992, during an interception mission of Turkish fighters, near the Aghios Efstratios sea region.

Second Lieutenant (AF) Konstantinos Kontogiorgos was killed on 10 February 1988, when his aircraft crashed in the Andros sea region, during a scheduled air engagement exercise.

Master Sergeant (AF) Evangelos Stathopoulos was killed on 10 May 1948, executing a war mission in Grevena region, when the aircraft he was a crew member of, was hit by antiaircraft fires and crashed during emergency landing.

Staff Sergeant (AF) Vassilios Kourkoutas was killed on 25 May 1943, during a training mission in Egypt, when his aircraft crashed and he was burned with it.

Staff Sergeant (AF) Efstathios Tsigas was killed on 9 June 1942, during a training mission, when his aircraft crashed in a region of South Rhodesia.

Let us hope that the spirit of all fallen heroes for Motherland will always be in our heart, it will fill our soul with pride and strengthen our will for battle, leading our thoughts and steps towards the high ideals of Freedom, Democracy and Justice.

Ladies and gentlemen,

There is no doubt that we are experiencing hard times, where the geopolitical fluidity, hybrid threats and security problems in our wider region do not allow any rest; to the contrary, they require increased readiness and continuous alertness.
The increasingly intensified challenges and threats, which put the limits of International Law, the Treaties' validation and the geopolitical stability in dispute throughout Europe, obligate us to face the risks with a high sense of duty, having as a forefront of our actions the defence of our national interests and deterrence as a centre of gravity of our whole defence planning.

In this respect, the Government and the Leadership of the Ministry of National Defence, both try every day to armour the country against any opponent, continuously increasing the fine training of the Hellenic Armed Forces, in order for them to be the guardian of our Country's territorial integrity and national independence.

With our tireless efforts, we aim at the continuous Army, Navy and Air Force upgrade, both in manpower and means and infrastructures, while at the same time we armour the troops with the most modern weapon systems, projecting state of the art power, thus greatly reinforcing their operational capabilities, as well as their deterrent power.

At the same time, through exercising defence diplomacy, we have succeeded to create a strong nexus of alliances, both at bilateral and multilateral level. This way we use every given capability to increase National Power and we make the country a basic security and stability pillar in the wider region of the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Concluding, I would like to point out that our main pursuit is always the implementation of a policy of values, based on the good neighbouring relations, international legality and Aquis Communautaire. This way, we choose to strictly be devoted to International Law, the United Nations Charter, the decisions of the Security Council and the Convention for the Law of the Sea, strictly condemning at the same time any illegal action of revisionism or resurgence of the past that affects our national interests.

First Lieutenant (AF) Nikolaos Sialmas,

Second Lieutenant (AF) Konstantinos Kontogiorgos,

Master Sergeant (AF) Evangelos Stathopoulos,

Staff Sergeant (AF) Vassilios Kourkoutas,

Staff Sergeant (AF) Efstathios Tsigas,

We thank you for your ethos, bravery and self-sacrifice. We owe you great gratitude for everything you offered your Country. The flame of your patriotism will burn for ever in our soul.
You may forever be "Immortal".

Thank you".