Joe Crowley: “it is with great respect and profound admiration that I rise today to recognize the 179th anniversary of Greek…”

“it is with great respect and profound admiration that I rise today to recognize the 179th anniversary of Greek Independence. March 25th is a date that will live forever in the hearts and minds of Greeks and Greek-Americans. On March 25, 1821, after nearly 400 years under the Ottoman yoke, the Greeks revolted against the Turks and after a fierce struggle won their independence. During all these years of occupation the people of Greece kept their language, their religion and their sense of identity. We share with the people of Greece this fierce spirit of independence and love of freedom. A country with a history stretching back almost 4,000 years, Greece is the cradle of democracy and its great philosophers were an invaluable inspiration for our founding fathers. In ancient Athens they found a model for the new democracy they were going to establish in America. For many years, Greece has been a reliable ally of the United States. During World War II, the Greeks sided unanimously with the Allies. The years of German occupation were a particularly hard time for Greece. Starvation decimated the population while executions and deportations contributed to the catastrophe. But from the first moments of the occupation a mass resistance movement came into being, bravely fighting the Nazi conquerors.”