The AHEPAN_AHEPA_75th_Anniversary_Commemorative_Edition - 19

Ronald Reagan,
George Bush,
Bill Clinton,
Vice Presidents
Spiro Agnew
(whose father,
Theodore,
helped found
George C. 11oumas
Baltimore's
AHEPA Chapter No. 30 in 1922)
and Hubert Humphrey, Greek Prime
Minister Constantine Karamanlis,
Patriarch Athenagoras and comedian-humanitarian
Bob Hope (see his
acceptance speech on page 27).
In 1932 AHEPA fought toothand-nail
the speculations of the
Wickersham Congressional
Committee on Crime in the U.S. Its
damning allegations enfuriated the
Greek American community, one of
its victims. AHEPA, relying on its
grass roots strength across the land,
organized fact-finding forces in
every state and succeeded in proving
that the Wickersham Report was
nothing more than a shameful and
inaccurate sham.
AHEPA proved itself an antidefamation
group the likes of which
the Greek American community had
not had.
THE WARYEARS
AHEPA's friendly, indeed brotherly
relations with President Franklin
D. Roosevelt also enhanced the organization's
stature. FDR had been
initiated as a member of AHEPA
back when he was Governor of New
York. Now AHEPA's regular visits
to the Oval Office took on an added
significance. They weren't the stiff,
formal occasions they had been with
Herbert Hoover and Silent Cal.
The dark days of World War II
changed many a life, galvanizing the
AHEPA membership and demonstrating
just how much such an
organization could achieve. The
poignant turning point for Greek
Americans came more than a year
before Pearl Harbor. On October 28,
1940 Mussolini's troops invaded
Greece from the north. That day is
still remembered as revered as " Ohi
Day. "
An AHEPA visit to President
Roosevelt a short time after brought
about what the White House tenned
" an unusual procedure,'' as FDR
THE AHEPAN * SUMMER 1997
announced a promise of U.S. aid to
Greece in her hour of peril.
The Greeks fought the Italians for
five months and dealt Mussolini
utter defeat. They managed to hold
off Hitler's massive war machine for
another three weeks before being
overwhelmed. That heroism captured
the world's admiration.
The Greek War Relief Association
(GWRA), spearheaded by the
Skouras brothers and other Ahepans
in the movie theater business, raised
$4 million in food and supplies by
May 1941. Ahepans in various businesses
donated a day's or a week's
profits to the cause, and many contributions
came from non-Greeks.
Ahepans provided about 90% of the
labor force in GWRA efforts, speculates
historian Theodore Saloutos,
thanks again to its gra'isroots strength.
NOWA
BROADENED SCOPE
In its so-called first phase, from
1922 to 1945, the emphasis was on
" Americanization " and citizenship
programs. Following the War
,AHEPA broadened its scope and
horizons. Now over half of the
membership was American-born.
Many of AHEPA's Post-War projects
would be related to
rebuilding a war-tom Greece
and, in contrast to its original
goal, keeping Hellenism alive
among the Ame1ican-bom
generations of Greeks.
CONCERN
FOR
HEALTH
Following World
War II, Ahepans continued
raising money for
hospitals in Greece and
other Greek war relief
programs. However, civil
war was raging in the
motherland. Ahepans were
concerned. So was the
Truman Administration.
On March 12, 1947
President Truman
appealed to Congress
for immediate military
aid. Congress came
through and the Truman
Doctrine, as it came to
be known, was vital in saving
Greece from Communism.
AHEPA maintained the warmest
of relations with Truman, who was
initiated into the Order on Greek
Independence Day-March 25th!
946.
That year, AHEPA's first Health
Center opened in Chrysoupolis in
northern Greece. Construction
began on an AHEPA Wing at
Athens' Evangelismos Hospital.
Other health centers were rising.
though construction was often
slowed and sometimes halted by
guerilla attacks.
AHEPA had come of age. There
was no question about the loyalty of
Greek Americans to the United
States or about citizenship.
AHEPA continued its educational
and humanitarian efforts and civicminded
programs, focusing much of
its energy on a homeland in desperate
need of help.
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