elias Doundoulakis was born in Canton, Ohio in July 1923. He grew up with one older brother, George. He was raised by his parents and his father owned a restaurant. At the age of three, his father sold the business and his family moved to Crete [Annotator's Note: Crete, Greece] because of an injury sustained by his grandmother. Because Helias and his brother spoke English at the time, they were known in their village as the little Americans boys. By 1941, Greece had fallen to the Axis powers and on 20 May 1941, German paratroopers invaded Crete. Helias was 18 years old and in high school at this time. After ten days of fighting, the Battle of Crete [Annotator's Note: in Crete, Greece 20 May to 1 June 1941] was over, and the Nazis occupied the city. Doundoulakis and George worked as translators for the British-Greek military during the battle. They proved to be reliable and when Crete fell to the Nazis, Doundoulakis and George were asked to help evacuate British soldiers out of Crete. One of the British captains, Monty Woodhouse [Annotator's Note: British Royal Artillery Captain (later Colonel) Christopher Montague Woodhouse, 5th Baron Terrington] was an agent with the SOE [Annotator's Note: Special Operations Executive, British special forces organization] and soon recruited Doundoulakis and George into forming a Crete resistance [Annotator's Note: The Cretan resistance part of the Greek resistance movement, 20 May 1941 to 23 May 1945]. He and his brother went to their hometown of Archanes [Annotator's Note: Archanes in Crete, Greece] to find others to join. They were able to gather about 30 men, which would eventually grow to over a hundred. The resistance took part in many events to sabotage the efforts of the Germans with the help of a British soldier named, Dunbabin [Annotator's Note: British special forces Lieutenant Colonel Thomas James Dunbabin], including blowing up several German vessels. Doundoulakis read in the newspaper after the event and saw pictures of hundreds of dead Germans floating in the water in the Crete Harbor. For their action in the sinking of the German convoy, George and Dunbabin later were decorated by Great Britain. Doundoulakis was assigned to the Heraklion Airfield [Annotator's Note: in Crete, Greece], where he relayed to a nearby peanut vendor the number of Luftwaffe [Annotator's Note: German Air Force] planes and gliders returning from Egypt. This information led to the sinking of German ships.

Helias Doundoulakis [Annotator's Note: an American citizen living in Crete, Greece and working for the British Special Operations Executive, a special forces group, during World War 2] was betrayed to the Gestapo [Annotator's Note: German Geheime Staatspolizei or Secret State Police; abbreviated Gestapo] by a local Cretan after two years with the SOE [Annotator's Note: Special Operations Executive, British special forces organization]. The local Cretan tried to blackmail Doundoulakis' brother, George, who was a leader of a resistance group and worked closely with SOE, if he did not pay him money. George refused and sent a resistance brother to kill the traitor, but it was too late. The traitor sent a letter to the Gestapo office. A woman who secretly worked with George, also worked at the Gestapo office saw the letter and informed the Doundoulakis brothers. They fled to the mountains and hid in caves for several weeks. They were given word that a British boat would arrive for them. A torpedo boat arrived in the harbor. The Doundoulakis brothers with 13 others quietly boarded and left Crete. They were given food but threw it up because the waves were so bad. They saw a German airplane during their voyage, but they were not attacked. They arrived in Mersa Matruh in North Africa [Annotator's Note: Mersa Matruh, Egypt] and were given food and new clothing. They were loaded in trucks and send to Cairo [Annotator's Note: Cairo, Egypt] where they were taken to the SOE villa. Doundoulakis and George, being Americans, wanted to return to their home country and work for the secret service of the United States, which was the OSS [Annotator's Note: Office of Strategic Services]. Their mother had sewn their birth certificates in their jackets, and they used those documents as proof of their citizenship. The OSS was eventually informed of the Doundoulakis brothers. It dispatched OSS Captain James [Annotator's Note: US Army Captain James G. L. Kellis] to recruit them as they were Americans. They enlisted in the United States Army in September 1943. The Doundoulakis brothers then joined the OSS after The Pentagon [Annotator's Note: a phrase referring the leadership in the United States Department of Defense] gave permission for the brothers to skip basic training. They promoted George immediately to staff sergeant and Doundoulakis to corporal. The Doundoulakis brother were well known by the American military for their involvement in the SOE.

In the Fall of 1943, Helias Doundoulakis and his brother, George became prospective agents [Annotator's Note: with Office of Strategic Services (OSS)] and were trained inside an elaborate palace rented from Egypt's ruling monarch, King Farouk [Annotator's Note: Farouk I, Ing of Egypt and Sudan, 28 April 1936 to 26 July 1952]. They stayed in a large apartment in the palace and received lots of accommodations during their training. Doundoulakis was trained for six months in the arts of espionage in a facility known as the "Spy School" [Annotator's Note: Special Training School No. 103, also called Camp X, or S 25-1-1, or Project-J, in Ontario, Canada, now called Intrepid Park] Their commanding officer was Major John Vassos [Annotator's Note: US Army Major (later Colonel) John Vassos; born John Plato Vassacopoulos]. He was also sent to Haifa, Palestine [Annotator's Note: now Haifa, Israel] for parachute training. He jumped eight times before he completed training. He was then sent to commando training and returned to spy school for additional training, including using master keys and opening safes. Doundoulakis was given a Nikon [Annotator's Note: Nikon Corporation] camera for his missions. He was also trained what to do if he is captured by the enemy and in ways to escape. He was given a pen-gun [Annotator's Note: firearm that resembles an ink pen] that had one bullet. If Doundoulakis was caught by one enemy, he could shoot the bullet at the enemy and try to escape. His instructors taught Doundoulakis how to tell probable stories if he was ever interrogated by the enemy in order to trick them and not get arrested. Spy school was very good and trained him well. Out of the 15 students in his class, eight were captured. Had he fallen into enemy hands, he was determined to take his own life with a cyanide capsule [Annotator's Note: also called a suicide pill; a pill, capsule, or tablet containing a fatal poison; cyanide is a rapidly acting deadly chemical].

In March 1944, [Annotator's Note: after completing training with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS)] Helias Doundoulakis was given identification and was dispatched on a mission. The commanding officer was Major John Vassos[Annotator's Note: US Army Major (later Colonel) John Vassos; born John Plato Vassacopoulos]. The mission was to Salonica, Greece. [Annotator's Notes: Video break at 1:01:03.000.] Had he fallen into enemy hands, he was given poison capsule [Annotator's Note: also called a suicide pill; a pill, capsule, or tablet containing a fatal poison; cyanide is a rapidly acting deadly chemical] to consume, rather than being tortured. He was also given equipment including gold pieces and a gun. The OSS was given word from another agent in Salonica that 70 thousand Germans were in and around the city and the best way for Doundoulakis to get in without detection was by boat. The weather conditions were horrible, and the waves were so high that they almost drowned. They returned to their original port and went out again the next day. Doundoulakis boarded a German vessel, disguised as a civilian trying to bring cans of olive oil to his family. During the voyage a Greek civilian asked Doundoulakis if he could have some olive oil for his food. Doundoulakis gave him some even though he was hiding things in the olive oil can. The boat reached the harbor in Salonica where Doundoulakis and another agent boarded a taxi. They reached an area with two German soldiers searching civilians. Doundoulakis was searched by the German guard, and somehow passed even though he was carrying gold pieces and three guns. The German guard told Doundoulakis that he looked just like his son who was fighting on the Russian front.

In March 1944, [Annotator's Note: after completing training with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS)] Helias Doundoulakis was dispatched on a mission to Salonika, Greece. He was instructed by OSS to find a place that he could install a 50-foot antenna because he would be sending and receiving telegrams. He found a damaged, abandoned textile factory that was once owned by Jews that were forced out. As he and his partner were installing antennas in the factory, a group of German soldiers came in and sat at a table underneath him. They began to play Bridge [Annotator's Note: a playing card game]. After some time had passed, they finally left never knowing Doundoulakis was up in the rafters. Doundoulakis tried to jump down but fell 15 feet and knocked himself out. Another time, Doundoulakis is walking around the factory trying to find a good hiding spot when he came across a piece of plywood. He moved it and saw a big hole. He figured that the Jews hid their gold and other significant items here so no one would get it, but everything was gone. He remained undercover in Salonika from April to December 1944, sending encrypted radio messages to OSS-Cairo [Annotator's Note: Cairo, Egypt] on German activity. After receiving intel [Annotator's Note: intelligence] from a Greek woman named Katerina, he sent a message that brought a squadron of American B-25's [Annotator's Note: North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber] to that city, destroying a trainload of German troops scheduled to leave. Doundoulakis saw a few planes shot down and about four airmen parachute down from their plane. He later found out that six airmen were found after the bombing. He met with the American captain briefly, but the captain was not aware that it was Doundoulakis that sent for him. Doundoulakis felt bad about the incident because hundreds of German troops died.

[Annotator's Note: A squeaking door can be heard throughout this segment.] Helias Doundoulakis [Annotator's Note: working with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS)] had notified authorities of a German troop train leaving the train station. This information led to an aerial bombardment from the Americans. Due to his successful efforts, he was now being hunted down by the Germans. His radio transmissions were pinpointed by German triangulation methods, but he escaped. A friend of his that worked as a cleaner in a German military office was told by a lieutenant the German plans to intercept the radio frequency. The lieutenant knew the war was coming to an end and decided to help Doundoulakis because he wanted to be a prisoner under the authority of the United States rather than Russia. Doundoulakis knew that a German ship was leaving port the day the Germans were planning to catch him using his radio and felt compelled to do his job and report to OSS the time it was leaving even though it had put him in eminent danger. He was almost done with his message when he heard German guards enter the factory where he was hiding. Doundoulakis was able to escape without the Germans knowing he was in the factory.

Helias Doundoulakis [Annotator's Note: with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in Salonika, Greece,] eluded the Germans and went into hiding for several days before contacting the OSS again or going to his secret location [Annotator's Note: after the completion of a successful mission described in Segment 5 – "Sending Encrypted Messages to OSS" of this interview series]. After the Germans had left, he soon received a message that an American colonel would be collecting him. One day the colonel arrived, and he asked Doundoulakis to take him to his hiding place, which he did. Doundoulakis sent over 300 encrypted messages during his mission in Salonika. The Colonel then took Doundoulakis to Athens [Annotator's Note: Athens, Greece] and to the "Spy School" [Annotator's Note: a school based on the Special Training School No. 103, also called Camp X, or S 25-1-1, or Project-J, in Ontario, Canada, now called Intrepid Park] in Cairo, Egypt. Doundoulakis brother, who also worked for OSS, was finishing his mission of spearheading a Greek partisan organization to unify a fighting force. Doundoulakis reunited with his brother in Cairo, and then both were sent to Washington D.C. They stayed in a country club with lots of entertainment and games, including USO [Annotator's Note: United Service Organizations, Inc.] activities. Doundoulakis was discharged from the Army and received medical disability for an injury during his service. He used the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] to go to college and get a master's degree in civil engineering. Doundoulakis was employed at Grumman Aerospace Corporation and helped with multiple projects including the Lunar Excursion Module [Annotator's Note: Apollo Lunar Module, Lunar lander spacecraft]. Doundoulakis patented the unique suspension system for a radio telescope used in the design for the largest of its kind at the time in Puerto Rico. He worked on this project with guidance from his brother George Doundoulakis who initiated this novel idea of Arecibo's suspension system [Annotator's Note: Arecibo Telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico]. Although it was a struggle through the courts, Doundoulakis was granted a U.S. patent for designing the antenna's suspension system. He believes that his lawyers betrayed him. He is proud of his family, including his wife and children.