Leonidas Marinos

Our father was born in 1895, in the village of Pemonia on the island of Crete.  In 1915, he was employed as an agent of the Greek Secret Police.  He was working in Thessaloniki, on the northeastern coast of Greece.  The agents' duties included monitoring, harassing, and apprehending the bands of Gypsies that migrated through the region from the adjoining central European nations.

He became acquainted with a Gypsy woman.  She had taken up residence in a hut on the beach near Thessaloniki.  This woman lived on handouts given her by neighboring villagers in exchange for fortune-telling and palm readings.  Leonidas was lenient with her, looking the other way as she performed her fortune telling.  He was popular and well liked by the townspeople.  He had a comfortable life, enjoyed his position with the Secret Service, and planned to make his life in Thessaloniki.

World War I changed those plans.  In 1918, Greece was embroiled in a war on the mainland of Turkey, their historic national enemy.  Greece was attempting to retake lands held previously during the repeated bloody conflicts between the two nations.  The Greek campaign was going well.  The Turkish army had been forced back into central Turkey.  Greece appeared to be enroute to capturing the entire nation.

The tide of battle turned, however, when the Turks began receiving aid from Italy, France, and England.  The Greek army was driven back.  As the Turks advanced toward the coast, they uprooted the Greek descendants and settlements that had developed in western Turkey from the previous occupations.  Due to the war, mainly women and children now populated these Greek settlements.  They were ordered to leave the country or be killed.

All members of law enforcement agencies were conscripted into military service.  Leonidas was sent to battle on the Turkish mainland.  Subsequently captured and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp, he was incarcerated for six months.  During that time, prisoners were beaten and tortured.  He became malnourished and infested with parasites.

He managed to escape and made his way to the coast.  Along the way, he met a Greek woman from one of the settlements.  She provided him with women's clothing.  He disguised himself as a woman and completed his journey to the town of Izmir.

He went directly to the beach.  He had been an outstanding swimmer.  He removed his disguise, dove into the Gulf of Izmir, and began swimming toward the Aegean Sea.

Swimming, drifting, and carried by currents, he fled the Turkish mainland.  On one occasion, he took hold of a passing boat, but was bludgeoned-off by crewmembers.  On another, he had to dive underwater and swim away after being shot at by a passing military ship.

Days and nights passed.  He became delirious.  In the Aegean Sea, he experienced a religious vision.  He was told that he would be allowed to survive the ordeal.  He, in return, was to give the profits of six months labor to the Church.

He drifted onto an unrecognized shore.  Naked and disoriented, he staggered along the beach.  A woman took him in, providing food, clothing, and care.  She had to repeatedly boil his bedding and clothing to destroy the parasitic infestations.  For three months, she cared for him.  Only after that time, did he recognize the Gypsy woman and the beach of Thessaloniki - about 250 to 300 miles from the port of Izmir.

Although he had not completely recovered physically or mentally, she took him to friends in town.  They gave him money to purchase a boat ticket for Crete, the home of his family.

Preparations were underway in the village of Pemonia for an important religious holiday.  It had been almost two years since our father's family had heard any word of his fate.  Many thousands of Greek soldiers had been killed in the fighting.  He was now presumed dead.  A memorial service for him was being planned at the church on this holiday.

On that evening he arrived at his parents' home.  When his mother saw him, she fainted on the spot.  The next day they celebrated his homecoming, instead of mourning his death.

It took another six months to recover from the ordeal.  He began working as a butcher on his native island.  He did not forget the pact made at sea, saving his wages for the gift to the Church.  He intended to turn over the money on a religious holiday honoring the christening of the local church.  Two days prior to the holiday, he traveled to an adjacent village.  He was planning to purchase two new lambs for the holiday barbeque.  The journey was a two-hour walk in each direction.  He returned home after dark.  To his shock, he discovered the satchel containing the money was missing.  He immediately obtained a lantern and began a search of the dirt road back to the village.  After searching for one and one-half hours, he located the satchel and money intact alongside the path.  That very next morning, he turned the money over to the Church.

He considered going back to Thessaloniki, resuming his career in the Secret Police, and returning to the happy life he previously enjoyed.  He pondered the situation.  He feared that another war would erupt.  He might be sent back onto the battlefield.  He realized that he could not again endure the horrors experienced earlier.

He saved his money and, in 1923, purchased a ticket to America.  He arrived at Ellis Island in New York, and then took a train to Fresno, Ca.  There he lived with his brother, who had immigrated earlier and now operated a restaurant.  Leonidas remained in Fresno until just after the Second World War.

In 1949, Our father returned to Greece in search of a bride.  As a result of that quest, Leonidas Marinos met Zampia Manousaka -- and that leads us to...

Her Story