Testimony: William A. Lloyd
While the ship was taking on stores at Derinje I went ashore and was courteously shown over the depot by the local representatives of the Near East Relief. Among the Greek refugees at the depot I was surprised and delighted to meet an old Greek priest whom I had known in previous years and whom I had long ago thought to be dead. His coat, once black, was now green with the rays of many summers, his hands were hard with toil, as were the hands of the Galilean fishermen, for his flock was poor and he shared their poverty. But his dear old wrinkled face still wore the kindly smile I remembered so well in the long ago.
Reversing the usual procedure he wanted to kiss my hand, for in the East it is customary to kiss the hands of the stewards of the Holy Mysteries, but I would not allow that, and when I had reproved him he told me the story of the years since we had met.
A band of brigands had one day descended on his little village, and after the massacre and outrage usual in such circumstances, he, with the remnant of those whom Christ had committed to his care, had managed to escape. For days they wandered, footsore and weary, existing on herbs and the leaves of trees. Some of them perished by the way and were laid to rest with the rites of the church they loved.
At last some of them refused to go on any farther. The old priest tried to reason with them and he told of the sufferings of the Man of Sorrows. But some of them would be comforted. "There is no Christ. He is dead. It is better that we, too, die and end all our misery."
Then a wonderful thing happened. By accident the little band of martyrs stumbled on the track of some Near East Relief workers. When they saw the American flag the old priest pointed to it and with the tears streaming down his face he sobbed, "See, my children, it is not true; He is not dead—Christos anesti—Christ is risen."
And as they realized what that flag meant they fell on each others' necks and in choking voices cried "Alethos anesti—He is risen indeed."
I, who am not an American, can conceive of no greater honor ever being paid to any flag than that cry.
Note: Mr. William A. Lloyd was an Australian journalist. A New Zealander by birth, he
served with the Australian Imperial Forces during the war and also served as the war correspondent for The Liverpool Courier.
Source: Lloyd, William A., "'He is Not Dead'", The New Near East, New York: Near East Relief, March 1923, p. 7. (Courtesy of Vicken Babkenian, Australia)