Three years ago, Greece watched two of its own die on live television. On July 25, 2023, a Hellenic Air Force Canadair C...

Three years ago, Greece watched two of its own die on live television. On July 25, 2023, a Hellenic Air Force Canadair CL-215 crashed while making a low-altitude water drop over rugged terrain near Platanistos, Karystos, during the catastrophic Evia wildfires. The aircraft struck vegetation, disappeared into a ravine, and erupted into flames. Cameras were rolling. The two pilots aboard were Captain Christos Moulas, 34, and Second Lieutenant Periklis Stefanidis, 27, both members of the 355th Tactical Transport Squadron. They died doing exactly what they had trained to do, protecting homes and communities from one of the most destructive wildfire seasons in Greece's recent history. The Hellenic Armed Forces declared three days of official mourning. The footage of the crash spread across every major Greek broadcaster within hours, and the grief that followed was immediate and national. Moulas and Stefanidis were not soldiers lost in a distant conflict. They died over Greek soil, visible, in the middle of a rescue effort. The Canadair CL-215 is an aging aircraft, first introduced in the 1960s, and Greek aerial firefighting crews operate under conditions that would ground many other operations. Low altitude, heavy smoke, extreme summer heat, and steep mountain terrain make every run a calculated risk. On that day in Karystos, the risk was everything. Today, as wildfire season returns to Greece, the names Christos Moulas and Periklis Stefanidis are being remembered across the country. Their families, their squadron, and the communities they died protecting carry that memory forward every summer. #Greece #HeroesNeverForgotten #EllinikoiPilotoi