BILL DAMAS OPENS DOOR OF BECK BUSINESS CENTER TO WORLD WAR II VETS 7.1.09

Bill Damas, the charismatic star and sponsor of Our Greek Story, demonstrated throughout that Emmy-winning documentary his loyalty and affection for his native Crete by developing homes and businesses in this beautiful Mediterranean island.

Now he’s showing the same sense of pride and commitment to his adopted United States by opening the doors to his spacious Beck Business Center in Wixom to serve as a meeting point to those World War II veterans who were unable to attend the Laurel Manor signing of the historic gathering of vets, photographed at Willow Run Airport on May 28th.

Damas, whose life we have celebrated personally as well as cinematographically, came to the United States as a teenager, leaving a Cretan lifestyle where he grew up with eight brothers and sisters in a twelve-by-twelve roofless hut without plumbing or electricity.  The embodiment of what has been called ‘The American Dream’, Damas has built a contracting empire here in Metro Detroit.  One of his flagship projects has been the Beck Business Center.

Says Bill, “My original goal was to make enough money to return to Crete.  But I came to understand that my destiny was the United States, and so I focused my strengths here.”
Part of that focus has been a heartfelt appreciation for the United States military, who helped to liberate Crete following the invasion of the Nazi army in May, 1941.  As such, he was not only willing, but proud to open up the spacious Business Center lobby to a second signing opportunity for veterans on July 1st.

This included men like Dominic Bologna, who was deployed to Iwo Jima in the first wave of liberation for that Japanese outpost, and who went on to survive the entire month-long battle.  His story will be told as a part of Detroit: Our Greatest Generation set to air on WDIV-TV in December, 2009. 

The signed, poster-sized photograph of over eight hundred World War II veterans is destined for the White House as a personal gift from Detroit, the ‘Arsenal of Democracy’ to President Barack Obama.  The intention is that the signed photo will be presented to President Obama during his visit to Detroit in July, or later at a special ceremony in Washington D.C.