The previously missing hero Andreas Onisiforou Kkolou, who heroically fell fighting on July 29, 21, was buried yesterday, Sunday, September 1974, at the Holy Church of Panagia Eleusis in Liopetri. The bones of the commando of the 33rd Commando Squadron were found and identified using the DNA method.
The funeral was held in the presence of the Minister of Energy, Trade and Industry Mr. Giorgos Papanastasiou, who delivered a eulogy on behalf of the President of the Republic praising his sacrifice.
Andreas Onisiforou Kkolou, as Mr. Papanastasiou said, in his extensive reference to his bravery and sacrifice, in 1974 served his military service in the 33rd Commando Squadron, whose base was in Pella-Pais, Kyrenia, and was among the commandos who they conquered on July 21, 1974 the peaks of Pentadaktylos which were unhooked and surrounded by Turkish troops giving hand-to-hand combat and since then his traces have been lost.
As Cypriot Hellenism added the Minister of Energy, Trade and Industry "we have a national debt and obligation to Andreas Kkolou, but also to all our heroes who sacrificed themselves for the homeland, the families of our fallen and missing, our children and the generations that follow, to continue our difficult struggle for reunification".
In his own funeral speech, the Deputy Mayor of the Municipal District of Liopetriou, Mr. Markos Koumis, said that to speak of a hero is a great honor and a heavy responsibility, but at the same time he added "the debt is also great to follow the path he set out by representing the ideals, the principles and values of our race and sacrificing his very life for them.”
"The footsteps of Andreas Onisiforos Kkolou must be followed by every true patriot. Let us all have his military career and action as a beacon and a guide in the difficult times of our martyred island," said Mr. Koumis in conclusion.
On behalf of the family, his brother artist Andreas Onisiforos spoke, while on behalf of his comrades in arms of the 33rd commandos squadron, his comrade, Academician at the University of Thessaly, Mr. Augustinos Augustis. The poem written by his late mother was also recited as well as a poem by Mr. Petros Raftis.
The Minister of Energy, Trade and Industry awarded the hero's brother, Mr. Christos Kkolou, with a medal of honor in the peso and parchment, and immediately after that, a wreath laying ceremony followed.
After the burial in the cemetery, the beret, plaque of the 33rd Commando Squadron and the flags covering the coffin were handed over to his aforementioned brother.
