WASHINGTON, DC, November 22, 2022 – Greek-American veteran Dr. George Hatsopoulos was honored posthumously with the 2022 Haseotes Service Award. Vasilios S. and Aphrodite B. Haseotes Family Foundation trustee George Pantazelos presented the award to Hatsopoulos’ wife Daphne Hatsopoulos and their son Nicho Hatsopoulos.

George Hatsopoulos was born in Athens on January 7, 1927. He was 14 when Greece was occupied by Germany. As a teenager in Greece during World War II, he used spare parts to build radios so families and resistance fighters could hear forbidden broadcasts during the Nazi occupation. His secret operation in the basement of his parents’ home foreshadowed the business he would start as an adult in the garage of his own house.

He served in the U.S. Army in 1951 and 1952. He received his U.S. Citizenship on January 9, 1954 and continued his studies at MIT.

To see a video of this presentation, click here.
To see photos from the Oxi Service Awards, click here.

The Haseotes Service Award recognizes the service and many contributions of a distinguished Greek-American veteran in the spirit of Vasilios S. Haseotes, a decorated World War I veteran.

In 1917, Haseotes enlisted and joined the United States Army Infantry under the command of “Black Jack” Pershing to help quell the rumblings in Western Europe. To him, there was no decision to be made. America was his country now. And there was a job to be done. He functioned as an interpreter, relaying orders to his fellow Greeks who were fighting alongside him. Haseotes emerged from the forests of Verdun a hero, with shrapnel wounds and the effects of mustard gas. He was decorated by both the French and American governments.

Haseotes posthumously received the Foundation’s Oxi Service Award in 2019. Several members of his family, including a number of his great grandchildren were on hand for the ceremony.

To see video of this presentation, click here.

The first Haseotes Service Award was presented to World War II veteran Efthemios J. “Tim” Bentas in 2021.

To see a video of the Bentas presentation, click here.