Washington, DC – The Washington Oxi Day Foundation announced today that Greek-American WWII veteran Christopher Mehiel will be honored posthumously with the 2013 Oxi Day Greatest Generation Award, in recognition of his courageous service in World War II.

Previous recipients of this award have included former US Senate Majority Leader and presidential candidate Bob Dole, Greek-American community leader Andrew A. Athens and former Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Benjamin A. Gilman, among others. Each year the Washington Oxi Day Foundation honors a Greek, Greek-American and American WWII veteran with this honor.

Christopher Mehiel, who passed away in 2002 at the age of 81, joined the Royal Canadian Air Force at the age of 20 prior to the U.S. entry in WWII and was trained as a pilot. When the U.S. later entered the war, Mehiel transferred to the Army Air Corps and was deployed to the Far East, where he flew C-47 air-craft over “The Hump” between India and China.

Following his discharge at the end of the war, Mehiel rejoined the Army and enjoyed a long and distinguished career in military intelligence, serving in posts all over the world. He retired in 1972 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

His wife, Celeste Mehiel, and son, Dennis Mehiel, will accept this posthumous award on his behalf at a moving ceremony at the National World War II Memorial on Thursday, October 24th at 2:30 pm. This event is part of the Third Annual Washington Oxi Day Celebration. Those attending this ceremony will include American policymakers, ambassadors and officials from other nations, military officials, WWII Veterans and Greek-American community leaders from across the country.

The recipients of the 2013 Greatest Generations Awards honoring a Greek WWII veteran and American WWII veteran will be announced shortly.

Participation in this event at the WWII Memorial is free due to the generosity of our sponsors, but registration is required. Please RSVP to rsvp@oxidayfoundation.org.