WASHINGTON, DC, January 10, 2025 – The Washington OXI Day Foundation mourns the loss of World War II Veteran James Harry Moshovitis on December 28, 2024. He was the recipient of the Foundation’s Greatest Generation Award in 2015 for his courageous service to our country.

On October 28, 2015 – on the 75th anniversary of OXI Day – Moshovitis was honored at a moving ceremony on Capitol Hill in the US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing room. Honored alongside Moshovitis was former US Senator, astronaut and American hero, John Glenn (posthumously). NASA Administrator and fellow astronaut, Charles Bolden, accepted the Award on Glenn’s behalf. The event began with an inspiring and passionate keynote address by Washington OXI Day Foundation Advisory Board Member Michael Psaros.

To see a video of this presentation to Moshovitis and his acceptance remarks, click here.
 
To see pictures from this ceremony, click here.

Moshovitis enlisted in the US Navy upon completion of high school. He served as a radio man on a ship near Japan from 1943-1946. He rarely spoke of his time in the Pacific, but being a radio man he was a prime target for the kamikaze pilots. He participated in the infamous battles of Okinawa and Iwo Jima as well as Saipan, Guam, Tulagi and Manila Bay. He was also on the first ship that arrived in Tokyo Bay on V-J Day. He was extremely proud of his service that changed the course of history.