The Deputy Minister of National Defence Alkiviadis Stefanis represented the President of the Hellenic Government, on Wednesday 5 February 2020, at the memorial event for the 63 fallen Officers, NCOs and Aircraftmen who were flying with the C-130 transport aircraft of the Hellenic Air Force, which crashed on Mount Othrys, 29 years ago. The ceremony took place at the Iroon Aeroporon kai Pesonton C-130 (Heroic Airmen and Fallen of the C-130) Square, in Piraeus.

The Deputy Minister of National Defence laid a wreath on the monument of the fallen and made the following address:

“As a representative of the Hellenic Government and bringing the personal salute of the Prime Minister, I am attending this memorial event with particular emotion, paying the homage due to the fallen Officers, NCOs and Aircraftmen who lost their lives, on the line of duty, at the tragic accident of the C-130 on Mount Othrys.

29 years have gone by, since the greatest tragedy in the history of our Air Force, when all 63 passengers and airmen lost their lives, in one of the greatest air accidents which have ever occurred in the country. A truly tragic incident which shocked the Greek society, causing immense pain to the relatives, friends and colleagues of the airmen who met an untimely death.

This solemn ceremony, in memory of the brave Air Force members and aircraftmen, who prematurely lost their lives in peacetime, is the minimal homage, for the morale and the services they offered to the homeland.

It is an everlasting given, that the history of each country’s people constitutes the dominant element of its national identity, a defining factor of its social cohesion, but also the stepping-stone for the achievement of its goals and ideals.

Such dreadful incidents constitute the aforementioned historic reference context, in which the sacrifice on the line of duty, in either wartime or peacetime, holds a dominant and prevailing position.

For a people honoured and fortunate enough to reference heroes, the sacrifice, the dedication to a higher collective goal, faith and duty assume a national context, constituting a true force of examination and evaluation of the high ideals of Hellenism. In that sense, the sacrifice does not bear loss, but is immersed in immortality, ageless glory and collective memory.

Since the day that the Pantheon of the heroes of the Air Force was enriched by the sacrifice of the Reserve Second Lieutenant Emmanouil Argyropoulos, the first fallen Greek airman, until today, numerous of our airmen have followed the course of duty, in wartime as well as peacetime, by shedding their blood at every corner of the Greek territory and making themselves a shining beacon and stepping-stone of national dignity and pride.

The Greek people, heir of the invaluable spiritual treasure and history of its ancestors, regards the sacrifice of our airmen on the line of duty, as the highest form of contribution to the homeland, which makes the deed itself an element of exemplary dedication to the race’s ideals and a condition of national regrouping and historical exaltation of our people, due to its emotional context and moral dimension.

For all of the above, today’s memorial event must not be a mere obituary, meaning a typical process of homage to our dead airmen, but a significant event with particular moral gravitas.

Like in Ancient Greece, where the Epitaph was a deed of admonition and collective reference to the dominant notions of homeland, honour and abnegation, thus today’s solemn ceremony constitutes the most apparent testimony for us all, that the course of the Nation and especially of our Air Force towards the future, is directly dependent on the war virtue and the sense of duty heightened within the Greek Airmen.

Today is dedicated to these great Greek Airmen, a day of honour and general recognition for the Armed Forces in total, which are dedicated to their duty, guaranteeing the national independence and the territorial integrity of the Homeland.

Addressing the relatives of the 63 airmen who met an untimely death, allow me to once more express to you the State’s most sincere condolences for the loss of your relatives, who lost their lives giving their last drop of blood and their last breath, while on duty.

Acknowledging the fact that the pain you are experiencing does not recede, I urge you to always be deeply proud for those you lost, for their course, their stance and their great contribution to the Homeland.

The Armed Forces will always be by your side, aiding and supporting. The Air Force will always be your family.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In a critical juncture for our Homeland, it is our general obligation to preserve our traditionally everlasting values and ideals, to forge the national unity and accord and execute our duty, each and everyone of us, as the minimal moral obligation to those who we honour today.

To all those great Greek Airmen who did not return to their loved ones, to those who unsparingly gave their lives for the Homeland.

May they be forever “Immortal”.

Thank you”.