Andhravida: Lt’s father shocked – “He was a humble kid – he doesn’t mind the word hero”

All Kostas Says – Michael Trudzika, father of Sub-Ensign Marios, who died in F-4 Phantom Sea crash Andhra Pradesh Investigations continued 31-year-old captain – Sminakos (I) Efstathios Sidlakides.

29-year-old Sub He is also from Doliana in Arcadia, he finished high school in Tripoli and went to Ikaron School, which was his childhood dream.

Speaking to SKAI, Mr. Durutsikas said, among other things, that he was certain that his son, who was particularly lowly, would not like to be called a “hero” and asked that people stop remembering him as such.

“I believe he hated the word hero. He was a very humble kid, he didn’t even say his profession. If anyone asked, he would say pilot. He only considered Ilyakis, his role model, a hero.

Mr. Kostas Tourutsikas also spoke about the moment he learned of the downing of the fighter jet, insisting that “when I heard that the plane had gone down, I instinctively knew it was my son”, while revealing that his son’s role model was Konstantinos Iliakis. Killed by a Turkish pilot in the Aegean on May 23, 2006 due to a botched maneuver.

“He’s not a hero, he’s a fighter”

“Marios is destined to serve his country. I’m sure he doesn’t like the word hero, he told me ‘Dad I’m a warrior. He was very humble, he didn’t tell me his profession,” the pilot’s father told ANT1.

“My kid is not a hero. They did an exercise in war conditions, they’ve done it many times, and in this exercise he wasn’t killed because he was an enemy. He was killed because he had an event. That’s what he got paid for. He wasn’t interested in dying for his country, that was his job. ” said the father.

Describing the 29-year-old’s love for the job, he said, “If you don’t love the torture they go through in education, you can’t get through it.” When he was at his school, he noted that on his way home, “He was sad, tired, but he didn’t bring anything home,” and she showed the extent of his physical and mental exhaustion, saying, “Imagine that. Swear. – We do not recognize him ».

He replied that he had flown over his village several times and clarified, “There was no fear, even when his mother asked him, he said the planes were safe.”

“He went to work smiling as if he was going to do something for fun. In the summer he didn’t fly, he was full of nerves. And colleagues, he loved it, he told me,” said Konstantinos Touritsikas, concluding that his child’s great joy would be the flag.