The Deputy Minister of National Defense, Mr. Nikolaos Hardalias represented today, Friday 17 June 2022, the Greek Government at the events of honor and memory co-organized by the General Staff of the Air Force and the Municipality of Agios Efstratios, for the fallen on duty, Hero Lieutenant (I) Nikolaos Sialmas and took place at the cape of Nikolaos Sialmas, in Agios Efstratios, where the monument of the same name is located.

Subcommander (I) Nikolaos Sialmas fell defending the sovereign rights of our Homeland on June 18, 1992, during an interception mission of Turkish fighter jets, which had violated the National Airspace, in the sea area of Agios Efstratios. With his heroic death, he joined the pantheon of Greek heroes and martyrs, who fell on the altar of duty, defending the Greek skies.

The Deputy Minister of National Defense, after its performance memorial prayer, laid a wreath at the Hero Monument, while in his greeting he mentioned the following:

«What a real thrill. And I am proud and excited to be here today, in the heart of our island Greece, in the center of our Aegean, as a representative of the Greek Government, to convey the Prime Minister’s personal greeting to the entire Air Force family, who today commemorates his memory. hero of aviator Nikolaos Sialmas.

Tomorrow marks the thirtieth anniversary of the fatal air battle of June 18, 1992. On that day, Brigadier General Sialmas, as Flight Commander of the 342nd Squadron, with the usual professionalism and selfless dedication to duty that has always characterized the cadres of our War, last time, to intercept Turkish aircraft that had violated national airspace. With his heroic death, he joined the pantheon of Greek heroes and martyrs, who fell on the altar of duty, defending the Greek skies.

The sacrifice of Subcommander Sialmas, is for all of us an occasion for reflection, gratitude, as well as a reminder of our daily duty. Meditation, for the constant vigilance required to protect our sovereign rights! Gratitude, for the absolutely real danger that the officers of our Armed Forces undertake every day, in order to secure the Greek borders in the air, on land, at sea. And finally, a reminder of the obligation of the State to provide them with all the necessary means to fulfill their mission and to always be by their side and that of their families.

Thirty years after the unjust loss of the hero Officer, everyday life in the Greek seas, in the Greek skies has not changed. Pithen but we will be here! There will always be the impenetrable wall they have built our Armed Forces, with the universal support of the Greek people. There will always be the indomitable will and the determination, which can stem from a single soul, the Greek. And that does not change!

I reverently bow to our immortal pilot, who with his blood sanctified the indisputable Greek sovereignty in the ethers of the Aegean. To the respected family of the fallen, as well as to the large family of the Air Force, I will address, paraphrasing the words of Thucydides, in the Epitaph of Pericles: Happy can be considered only those who have received the highest honor, that is, either an honorable death like that of those who fell in favor of the freedom of the homeland, or an honest grief, like that of their relatives. Be proud of the hero we honor today, because he flew to death arrogantly, following the same path of honor and duty, followed by so many Greek warriors over the centuries.

It remains to us the sacred obligation to protect the legacy he left behind, for a Greece that is strong, prosperous and invulnerable to any threat. It is the least we owe to Subcommander Sialmas, in our homeland, to all Greek women, to all Greeks. The heavens are, and will remain, ours forever! We do not forget!

Thank you».

In the context of the event, the keynote speaker was the Mayor of Agios Efstratios Mr. Maria Kakaliwhile greeting they addressed the brother of the Fallen Hero Mr. Konstantinos Sialmasthe Chief of General Staff Vice Admiral (I) Themistoklis Bourolias, who represented the Chief of General Staff General Constantine Floros and His Eminence Archimandrite of Panosi Cyril as a representative of His Eminence the Metropolitan of Lemnos and Agios Efstratios, Mr. Ιερόθεου ΓΔ.

The event, which was honored by the presence of the relatives of the Hero Sialmas, was attended by the Prefect of Lemnos & Agios Efstratios Mr. Angelos Vlattas Lambrinosthe Mayor of Thermos (place of origin of the Hero) Mr. Spyridon Konstantaras, o Commander of the 88th Military Command Brigadier Konstantinos Takopoulosdelegations of executives of the General Staffs of the Armed Forces and the Security Forces, as well as Senior and Retired Senior Air Force Officers.

After the events, the Deputy Minister of National Defense, Mr. Hardalias, met with the Mayor of Agios Efstratios, Mrs. Maria Kakali.