My Life is the American Dream

Flight Journal, Dec 2004 by Cleaver, Thomas McKelvey

During the next year, Pisanos accompanied Gentile to Mojave Air Base in California, where he became friends with Lockheed test pilot Tony LeVier when they tested the prototypes of the F-80 Shooting Star. In 1997, a few years before his death, LeVier remembered Pisanos. "He was an excellent test pilot. He would fly exactly what was supposed to be done that day, he would take it to the limit, and he would bring back the data." Yeager remembers Pisanos as "... one of the best, most reliable pilots I ever worked with."

In late 1946, Pisanos left the Air Force to fly for TWA but returned to service in 1948. On the basis of his wartime record and his experience as a test pilot, Pisanos was accepted for a permanent commission in the Air Force as a captain and was sent to the University of Maryland to obtain a degree in military science. With his future assured, the young immigrant married Sophie.

Pisanos completed his education in 1952 and became involved with the Air Force's guided-missile programs. In 1967, he returned to combat flying in Vietnam. "The Air Force had just taken over the C-7 Caribou from the Army. The unit was tasked with flying into forward firebases and other dangerous locations and was taking a lot of casualties." Pisanos eventually earned the Legion of Merit, in addition to several Air Medals, for transforming the squadron from a low-morale unit into an effective combat squadron during his tour of duty.

In 1971, after finishing a tour as commander of a Titan ICBM unit, Pisanos-now a colonel-was assigned as air attaché to the U.S. Embassy in Athens. Four years earlier, the democratic Greek government had been overthrown by a right-wing military takeover known as "the Colonels' Coup." Pisanos's job was to help the Greek Air Force buy F-4 Phantoms. As the world's leading Greek fighter pilot, he didn't have any trouble gaining entry to the highest circles of an organization he could never otherwise have entered.

Two years later, when the Greek and Turkish Cypriots waged war against one another, the Greek armed forces were humiliated by the Turks, and the Colonels' dictatorship was overthrown. Several months later, as he was preparing to return to the U.S. and retire from a 32-year Air Force career, Col. Spiros Pisanos was awarded the George Cross by the King of Greece for his work in restoring democracy to his homeland.

In June 2002, Steve Pisanos was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame at the U.S. Air Force Museum with the other surviving members of the Eagle Squadrons. In December 2003, he was inducted into the American Combat Airmen Hall of Fame. His autobiography, "The Flying Greek," will be published in 2005. Looking back at an adventure-packed military career, Pisanos says, "My life is the American dream. There is no other country in the world where someone like me could do what I have done."