Rolling Meadows woman introduces World War II veterans
The two men looked like reunited Army buddies.
For the occasion, Xenophon "Fonda" Doudalis proudly wore his soldier's hat from World War II. Peter Poulos wore an Army green jacket with a Guadalcanal patch, a nod to his service in the Pacific theater.
And before they enjoyed lunch at the Greek Islands restaurant in Lombard, Doudalis and Poulos instinctively saluted each other in front of family and friends.
Turns out, this was only their first meeting.
"He's been so excited about being able to do this," said Poulos' nephew, John Gianopoulos.
Diana Anastazia set up the recent introduction, arising from a larger effort to honor World War II veterans. The Rolling Meadows woman thought the two men would bond over memories of war and their shared Greek heritage.
The daughter of a Holocaust survivor, Anastazia also felt her own connection with them.
Doudalis helped liberate the Dachau concentration camp in Germany. Poulos helped free prisoners of war from Camp O'Donnell in the Philippines.
"I think God puts me in the path of these gentlemen," said Anastazia, whose father, a Polish Catholic, was held in the Buchenwald concentration camp.
She had come to know Poulos through John Chrenka, another World War II veteran and fellow resident of Hines Veterans Affairs Hospital near Maywood.
Anastazia, president of Project Join Us, a group that raises funds for military organizations, was the driving force behind an effort to track down records for an application for Chrenka's Legion of Honor, France's highest distinction.
Chrenka, who was part of the first wave of troops to hit Omaha Beach on D-Day, received the medal in July 2016 and died about two months later. Anastazia now hopes the French government also will approve a Legion of Honor application she helped put together for Doudalis.
Anastazia worried Doudalis' war stories were sinking into obscurity. He had photographed the Dachau camp, documenting atrocities that he recalled made him "sick."
"We're talking unbelievable stories that man has," Anastazia said, "and I said, 'I have to do something abut this because nobody else would recognize that.'"
His unit in Gen. Patton's Third Army helped liberate villages on their route through France. Along the Saar River, his unit took heavy fire from German forces.
"Xenophon took a bicycle to help search for the rest of his unit," his application reads. "He was under consistent fire as he rode from building to building and was trapped for a week before the unit regrouped."
Anastazia met Doudalis through his son-in-law, John Maag. They got to talking about two years ago at the Des Plaines History Center, where Maag had brought his grandchildren for a program for kids to learn about World War II.
About a year later, "out of the blue," Anastazia called Maag and told him she wanted to prepare a Legion of Honor application for the Des Plaines vet.
"It was just fate," Maag said.
And if the request is successful, Anastazia hopes Poulos will support Doudalis as "another Army buddy" at a medal ceremony.
It's a fitting role for Poulos, who long looked after veterans as a former volunteer at Hines for more than 30 years. The River Grove native escorted patients to doctor visits as part of a job he likened to taking care of his unit.
"I figured those guys need help," he said.
Poulos, who will turn 101 in December, also had words of encouragement for Doudalis at their lunch.
Doudalis, 93, told him he was surprised Poulos was older and that he looks forward to being his age.
"You'll make it," Poulos told him.