Episode 8: Oxi Day
DE Classified
English - October 27, 2021 18:00 - 31 minutes - 21.4 MB - ★★★★★ - 11 ratingsHistory history navy museum ship destroyer escort destroyer world war 2 Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
In this special bonus episode of DE Classified, we pay homage to USS SLATER's 40 years of service in the Greek Navy. Each year on October 28th we celebrate with Greeks all around the world, Oxi Day (pronounced ō-hē).
In 1940 Mussolini delivered an ultimatum to Greece’s Prime Minister demanding the entry of the Italian army and the occupation of Greek territory. The Prime Minister refused, and the response was quickly echoed by the people of Athens as “Oxi,” meaning “No.”
The Italian forces entered Greece through the steep Pindos Mountains. There they met fierce and unexpected resistance. Hitler was forced to delay the invasion of Russia and extend their campaign into the winter in order to subdue the Greeks when the Italians failed in their efforts. This fatal diversion proved to be a great advantage for the Allied forces. Winston Churchill paid homage to the Greek resistance by claiming, “…until now we would say that the Greeks fight like heroes. From now on we will say that heroes fight like Greeks.”
USS SLATER has a special connection to the people of Greece. In 1951 the ship, along with three sister ships, was transferred to the Hellenic Navy and renamed AETOS (pronounced ī-tōs), meaning eagle. She completed hundreds of reconnaissance missions and training cruises for Naval Cadets over a forty-year career.