|
Col. Steve Pisanos, USAF (Ret.), "The Flying Greek"
How did a poor Greek immigrant who didn’t know the English language or how to fly become a “double ace” in World War II? This immigrant has been honored for his courage and skill by the United States Air Force and the British Royal Air Force, as well as the countries of France, England, and Viet Nam. He has been living in Rancho Bernardo since 1974.
The story of Steve Pisanos is the story of what an individual can achieve if he follows his dream despite major obstacles, prepares with determination and single-mindedness, and gets a few lucky breaks along the way. The final critical element was the opportunity that the United States gives its immigrants and citizens.
Visions of Biplanes
Steve Pisanos was born in a suburb of Athens in 1919. Greece was a very different place then, as Pisanos grew up in a modest home, the son of a streetcar and railroad engineer. At the age of 12 while walking to school, Pisanos had a glimpse of a biplane flying overhead.
As the pilot maneuvered the plane, Pisanos saw the aviator’s head covered with a leather helmet and goggles clearly visible in the open-air cockpit. When the pilot came around a second time, the pilot waved at Pisanos. Thus began a lifetime love, or perhaps an obsession, with flying.
Leaving Greece
After seeing the biplane, Pisanos was consumed with flying and airplanes. He would skip class to hike to a military base in the northern part of Athens to see the planes, and sometimes he was allowed to sit in the cockpit. Unfortunately, Pisanos’ preoccupation with airplanes resulted in a grade point average too low to be admitted into the Greek Air Force Academy.
He then determined that he needed to go to the U.S. for private lessons. But how could he go to the U.S.? He had no money and no skills. Once he tried to be a stowaway on an Italian boat going to the U.S., but was caught soon after he boarded the ship. At the time, Greece had a large Merchant Marine.
Through a variety of contacts, Pisanos was lucky enough to join and received an assignment in 1938 on a freighter named P. Margaronis that docked in Baltimore.
In the cockpit of 334th FS spitfire just back from a strafing mission over France, October, 1942.
Jump Ship
Once in Baltimore, Pisanos jumped ship at his first opportunity and began his life in the U.S. (This was one of his lucky breaks.
The P. Margaronis was later sunk by a German U-boat, with no survivors.) Pisanos immediately went to New York City where he worked at a series of low-skill jobs— primarily in bakeries and restaurants.
Learn English and Flying
Through his friends and co-
workers he was able to change his immigration status to a lawful resident of the United States. To qualify for a pilot’s license he needed to learn how to fly and how to speak English.
His meager earnings and long hours made it difficult to achieve those goals. He used his savings for flying lessons, leaving no money for English lessons, so he studied English on his own at home.
Germans Invade Greece
Everything changed when Greece, his birthplace, was attacked by the Germans in 1940. Reports of wide-spread killings, destruction, and starvation, particularly in Athens, angered Pisanos, whose older brother was serving with the Greek military. At the time, the United States was officially neutral, not entering WWII until Pearl Harbor was attacked at the end of 1941.
Pisanos earned his private pilot’s license in 1941 and was anxious to fight the Germans and Italians. England was actively recruiting American pilots for the British Royal Air Force (RAF).
Since Greece was an ally of England, Pisanos was selected for RAF service after training in California and Canada. Another of his lucky breaks was that he did not have a Greek passport, but the Canadian border patrol agent waved him across the border without review!
RAF Pilot
Pisanos joined the RAF in 1941 and underwent further training in England. He flew his first combat mission in August, 1942. After the US entered the war, the U.S. Army Air Force absorbed the American group of RAF volunteers—this group had the only American combat-trained pilots.
Pisanos was worried that he would not be accepted into the USAF because he was not an American citizen. However, he was accepted and was commissioned as a Lieutenant. Another of Pisanos’ lucky breaks was that with the help of military contacts, in 1943 Pisanos became the first person to be naturalized as an American citizen while stationed in a foreign country!
|
Double Ace
Pisanos downed his first German plane on May 21, 1943, on a mission over Belgium. By the first of January, 1944, he had downed five planes and became an ace. A “flying ace” is a military aviator who is credited with shooting down five or more enemy craft during aerial combat.
On
March 5, 1944, he became a “double ace,” having downed 10 enemy aircraft. On that day, Pisanos was on an escort mission over Limoges and Bordeaux, France. Unfortunately, his plane developed engine problems and he crash landed in the countryside south of Le Havre, France. An interesting side note is that Chuck Yeager, another US pilot and future test pilot, crash landed his plan on the same day, but his crash site was near the Pyrenees so he was able to escape to Spain.
French Resistance
Pisanos suffered a severe shoulder injury in the crash. He evaded capture and joined the French Resistance who arranged medical treatment for his injury by a German doctor (sounds like another lucky break). For the next six months, Pisanos evaded capture and served with the French Resistance who were fighting and sabotaging the Germans who had occupied France.
Pisanos’ book, “The Flying Greek,” contains a number of harrowing tales of evading capture. His luck was holding and he rejoined his unit in England on September 2, 1944, after the liberation of Paris. His bravery and missions in the French Resistance would later be recognized when France made him a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor in September 2009.
Test Pilot
Now that the war was over and freedom was restored to Europe, Pisanos still wanted to be flying in the skies. For two years he flew with TWA, but later returned to the United States Air Force as a test pilot flying advanced jet fighters at Wright Field in Ohio and at Muroc Lake, California. When the Vietnam War started, he also flew missions in Viet Nam.
For his final Air Force assignment, Pisanos returned to Greece as a USAF Colonel working with the Hellenic Air Force and spearheaded an effort to convince the Greeks to buy the F-4E fighter. He retired from the USAF in 1973 after 30 years of service.
Retirement
We asked Pisanos how he ended up in San Diego. Upon retirement, Pisanos and his wife, Sophie, moved to Kansas City, Sophie’s hometown, to be close to their two adult children.
However, when asked about Kansas City, Pisanos said with a twinkle in his eyes, “The weather is TERRIBLE in Kansas City.” He enjoyed golf, so on several occasions he met a friend in Palm Springs to play a few rounds. The friend lived in San Diego and convinced Pisanos to visit.
They played golf at the Rancho Bernardo Inn, and the rest is history! The weather was fantastic and the landscape looks very much like Greece. Pisanos soon rented an apartment and a year later, in 1974, bought a new home in Rancho Bernardo—where he has been living ever since.
Pisanos, now 91, still has a sharp mind and moves with the speed of someone decades younger.
He is happy to relate his stories and accomplishments and has remained active in the pilot community in San Diego. When we talked to him, he said that “above all, my story is about America and the fight for freedom.”
“The Flying Greek”
In 2008, Pisanos published a book, “The Flying Greek.” His autobiography is fast moving and filled with many of his accomplishments. The book has a forward written by Walter Cronkite, veteran journalist, who had interviewed Pisanos in England during WWII.
Cronkite said, “His story is one of a young boy who dreams of flying and, with remarkable determination, ambition, and courage, made his dreams come true and helped win World War II.”
|