Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church - Speros Apostolos Chrysohos

This beautiful and ornate church has been the center of the Greek Orthodox community in Newport News for over a century. Greek immigrants and their descendants continue to worship and pay their respects here, as did World War I veteran Speros Apostolos Chrysohos after his service. His experience of World War I, where he fought all along the French lines, he noted, made him "more religious than I was."

Born on October 4, 1897, in the town of Plomari on the island of Mytilene, Chrysohos came into a Mediterranean world which was engulfed in conflict. Mytilene, closer geographically to the Turkish mainland than to the Greek, was still part of the Ottoman Empire in 1897, and earlier that same year, the Kingdom of Greece fought a month long war which resulted in a failed invasion of Crete by the Greeks. (It would not be until the First Balkan War in 1912 that Mytilene would become part of Greece.) As is often the case of immigration stories, it seems likely that Speros' family may have come to the United States to escape conflict in their homeland. Perhaps ironically for many Greek and Balkan immigrants, the United States would go to war with the Central Powers, which included the Ottoman Empire.

Chrysohos, however, would not be sent to fight in the Mediterranean. Like most soldiers who hailed from Virginia, he received his training at Fort Lee in 1918, and was sent to France, arriving in Brest and proceeding to the Western Front on August 5. He first saw action on September 8, 1918, a mere two months before the war would formally end. Still, he fought in St. Mihiel, Meuse, Argonne, Bois des Rappes, and other parts of France. Like many posted overseas, he had a significant wait to return home after the war, and it would not be until July of 1919 that Chrysohos would arrive back in the United States, where he was discharged of service at Camp Dix, New Jersey. He then returned to Newport News.

Of his service, Chrysohos did not have much to say other than it was "Excellent" and that he was "improved mentally and physically to a great extent." Nonetheless he does mention that the experience made him "more religious than I was." Saints Constantine and Helen was active during the 1920s in Newport News, meaning it is highly likely he attended this site for regular Sunday worship. There is still a vibrant Greek and Balkan community in Newport News today, with a local Greek festival and Balkan restaurants to be found across the city.

Chrysohos, Speros Apostolos, War History Commission State of Virginia Military Service Record. Library of Virginia, Virginia War History Commission.

Kazas, Tom. Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 1917-2017 : a Century of Faith, Hope, and Love. Brookfield, MO ;: Donning Company Publishers, 2018.