Olive
Inside this capsule: a seed of Olive — and a story of friendship that began in 1950. Drag the capsule to face its label; the QR code is real.
The flower of Greece
Photo: en:User:Nickfraser · CC BY-SA 3.0
The tree of Athens and of peace itself. An olive branch has meant reconciliation since antiquity; an olive tree planted is a vow measured in centuries.
Flower meaning
The olive is the oldest peace sign we have — Athena's gift, the branch offered when war ends, a tree measured in centuries.
Growing your seed
Free the seed from its compostable kraft shell, then give it what olive asks for:
Watch it grow
Tsolakis Akrivos had the unique experience of training at the United States Air Force Academy and returning home to serve as a pilot in the Royal Hellenic Air Force (RHAF). During the Korean War, the RHAF provided essential transport of wounded soldiers and prisoners along with supplies and airdrops. When US pilots could not land…
A voice from Greece’s service in Korea · More on Korean War Legacy Foundation
Greek veterans of Korea are honored in the long Hellenic line of those who stood at the pass. An olive grown from this capsule is the oldest peace symbol humanity knows, set into new soil.
“We Remember. We Grow Together.”
Voices from the archive
Stories from veterans, families and participants that carry the same values as the olive — retold from the record, never invented.
In June 1953, Greek soldiers of the Sparta Battalion were among those ordered to hold Outpost Harry against night after night of assaults — and did. Greek and American survivors' associations commemorated the defense together for decades.
Source: Outpost Harry Survivors Association
Help this archive grow
Did someone in your family serve with Greece in Korea — or were they healed, taught or befriended by those who did? Every entry is reviewed and verified with you before publication.
Share a story1950 – 1953
Greece sent an expeditionary battalion — known as the Sparta Battalion — that fought in some of the war's fiercest hill battles, including the defense of Outpost Harry in 1953, together with the Royal Hellenic Air Force's 13th Flight of transport aircraft.
Historical passages are written with care and without invented figures; details still under review are marked for verification before print.
The land that named democracy also perfected the art of memory: the epitaph, the laurel, the eternal flame. Greece fought in Korea barely a decade after its own years of war, giving from a well it had only begun to refill.
Why the Olive
The tree of Athens and of peace itself. An olive branch has meant reconciliation since antiquity; an olive tree planted is a vow measured in centuries.