Pericles in his famous Funeral Oration says: “I will speak first of our ancestors, for it is right and seemly that now, when we are lamenting the dead, a tribute should be paid to their memory. There has never been a time when they did not inhabit this land, which by their valour they will have handed down from generation to generation, and we have received from them a free state.”    

Every time that our nation calls on us to honour those who offered themselves as sacrifice, causing the loss of their lives or their physical integrity, we must refer to words of great men because only their voice can be heard so loud that it reaches the point where the “rough and hard path to virtue”, as Andreas Kalvos would write.

With feelings of profound emotion, awe and national pride we gathered here today, in this modest ceremony, to pay the tribute and show the appropriate respect to the combatants of every national effort.

To bow once more to those heroes who were killed defending our country. And it is a particular privilege for me to be at this position and look at our country’s live history, our veterans, from this close.

Those who fought in our nation’s combats in the past century, in the battlefields of World War II, of distant Korea and of our Cyprus.
 
 Among them, we commemorate and award a medal for Outstanding Acts to marines soldier Efstathios Krokos who was fatally injured during a training activity in his constant struggle for the maintenance of the Armed Forces’ battle worthiness. Because the Hellenic Armed Forces are still trained in peace time in order to be able to act in war time.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

At a time of material eudemonism such attitudes for life remain landmarks, spiritual guidance, pathways in our lives, in lives that are substantial and not fake, in lives with prospect of progress, distinguished for their heroic conduct and dignity, notions which tends to be disdained over the last years.
 
With these ideals we, the parents ought to raise our children. Such examples must be projected in their education.

Our duty is not accomplished only with this commemoration.

It is our sacred duty to vindicate their sacrifice, defending our national sovereignty, our territorial integrity, our values and culture.
 
 We are abided by this sacred obligation and accomplishing this obligation is identified as national survival.

As a state and government, we consider paying the owed tribute to all those who sacrificed themselves for our homeland as an act of great importance. This is why we set it on the top of our agenda since January 2015.

We also consider rectifying the acts of injustice of the past as our moral duty. We ought also to tell Greek people the truth about what happened in Cyprus. And we will do this.

Answering to the question of one of the combatants who are honoured today, I am telling you that we will also honour all those who are not here today.
 
Beyond the moral duty and the rectification of injustice, I, as minister of national defence, owe a big apology to you who fought for our homeland and to all those to whom our homeland has not paid the proper tribute or the proper public respect so far.

Moreover, war-disabled and combatants of 1974 participated in the parade of October 28th, thus redressed for the 41 years of state’s procrastination to a certain extent. We honoured the commander of coastal patrol boat “FAETHON”, Captain Dimitrios Mitsatsos. Today, in this ceremony, we demonstrate everybody that we will never stop paying the owed tribute to the heroes and combatants who fought for our nation’s ideals.

In this context, on May 26, 2016, at the commemoration of the Mutiny of the Navy on the Destroyer “VELOS”, I announced the establishment of a Special Secretariat for Veterans which will be an indispensable part of the Ministry of National Defence.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to say that the entire Greek people owe a lot to those whom we honour today.

It is from them that we learn that international interests and geopolitical correlations cannot prevail over international legitimacy; that we do not give in to the law of the powerful but to a powerful law. We have sacred values, we have history, and we have symbols and common sacrifices.

These are alive and immortal values which demonstrate that freedom is not a permanent condition and a constantly ensured good, but a ceaseless and constant effort is required for its acquisition.

For this reason, as you may see today, the Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff and the Chiefs of the Hellenic Army General Staff, the Hellenic Navy General Staff and the Hellenic Air Force General Staff are also present here with us. We will continue our effort to execute our national obligation.