The Washington Oxi Day Foundation announced today that the United States’ first Director of National Intelligence and former Deputy Secretary of State, John Negroponte, will deliver keynote remarks at the Second Annual Washington Oxi Day Black Tie Dinner on October 25th at the historic Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington, DC.

Negroponte is considered one of modern America’s most highly-regarded government officials.   America turned to Negroponte after 9/11 when he was appointed as the first Director of National Intelligence. In this congressionally-established, cabinet-level position, he was charged with overseeing the CIA and all other American intelligence services and was the principle advisor to the President on such matters.  He later served as Deputy Secretary of State, the number two position in the State Department, from 2007 to 2009.  Prior to these appointments, he served in numerous Ambassadorial posts, including Ambassador to the United Nations.

Negroponte’s keynote remarks will focus on the importance of Greece’s crucial role in the outcome of WWII and the importance of such David vs. Goliath courage for democracy and freedom today.  As well, he will put into perspective this year’s winners of the Oxi Day Award and Oxi Day Battle of Crete Award and cash prizes. The 2012 award recipients are, respectively, Chinese dissident and human rights activist Chen Guangcheng and Pakistani women’s rights activist Dr. Fouzia Saeed.

Last year’s award recipients were Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s Nobel Prize Winner, and Jamel Battaieb, a fighter for freedom and democracy and creator of the “Arab Spring.” Last year’s and this year’s award winners exemplify today the David vs. Goliath courage for freedom and democracy that Greece exemplified in WWII. It lead Winston Churchill to say “If there had not been the virtue and courage of the Greeks, we do not know which the outcome of World War II would have been.”

The Washington Oxi Day Black Tie Dinner will take place on Thursday, October 25 at the Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington, DC. Attendees will include policymakers from the White House, State Department, Defense Department, US Congress, top US think tanks and human rights groups, leaders and Ambassadors from numerous countries involved in WWII, as well as Greek-American leaders from across the country and WWII veterans.

To purchase tickets to this event and for more information about the Washington Oxi Day Foundation, visit www.oxidayfoundation.org.