Megellas, James “Maggie”, born 11-03-1917, in Fond du Lac, 
Wisconsin, United States, the son of a Greek-American family of Peter Mitzalis (1884–1963) 
and his wife Daphne, born Aryerou Mitzalis (1890–1972) 
. James had three brothers and three sisters: George Mitzalis (1908–1949), 
Catherine Mitzalis Constance (1910–2009), 
Mary Magellas Pasvantis (1919–1996) 
, PFC John Peter Mitzalis (1921–1989) 
, Louis Mitzalis (1924–1983) 
and Helen Mitzalis Dietz (1928–2014). 
Maggie changing his name in Megellas, attended Ripon College in the nearby city of Ripon. The attack on Pearl Harbor 
occurred midway through his senior year. He participated in the school’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program and, upon graduation in May 1942, received a commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. 
Megellas was originally assigned to the Signal Corps, 
but grew tired of the required additional schooling and volunteered to become a paratrooper in order to see combat. He was assigned to H Company, 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 
82nd Airborne Division 
. under command of Major General Matthew Bunker Ridgway “Old Iron Tits” 
Humbly, he’d say that he didn’t consider himself a born leader; that he was just trying to get by like everyone else. Looking at his choices from early in life and before the war though it’s clear that he was always driven to take the initiative to do something, to be part of something bigger than himself. He first experienced combat in the mountains outside Naples, Italy, near Venafro, where he was wounded 
and hospitalized. In October 1943, while the remainder of the 82nd Airborne departed Italy to recoup before the invasion of Normandy, the 504th PIR remained behind and took part in Operation Shingle. The Battle of Anzio was a battle of the Italian Campaign of World War II that commenced 22-01-1944. The battle began with the Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle, and ended on 04-06-1944, with the invasion of Rome. The operation was opposed by German and by Italian Repubblica Sociale Italiana (RSI) 
forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno.
On 22-01-1944, the 504th took part in an amphibious assault at Anzio. The fighting took a heavy toll, Megellas being wounded again. It was not until April before the regiment was withdrawn. Due to the losses at Anzio, the 504th did not participate in the D-Day Normandy Landings. They did, however, parachute into the Netherlands as part of Operation Market Garden, 
the airborne invasion of that country.
Megellas took part in the crossing of the Waal River near Nijmegen, where the American forces crossed the river in flimsy boats while under heavy machine gun fire. On September 30, in Holland, Megellas single-handedly attacked a German observation post and machine gun nest. For displaying extraordinary heroism that day, he was awarded the U.S. military’s second-highest decoration, the Distinguished Service Cross. 
On December 20, for defeating the enemy at the base of a hill and rescuing one of his wounded men near Cheneux, Belgium, Megellas was awarded the Silver Star. 
In late December, the regiment was rushed into the Battle of the Bulge. 
On 28-01-1945, Megellas’ platoon was advancing towards Herresbach, Belgium. Struggling through heavy snow and freezing cold, they surprised 200 Germans who were advancing out of the town. Catching the Germans largely off-guard, the attack proved to be devastating, with the Americans killing and capturing a large number and causing many others to flee. As they prepared to assault the town, however, a German Mark V tank 
took aim at them. Megellas ran towards it, and disabled it with a single grenade. Climbing on top of it, he then dropped another grenade into the tank, eliminating the threat to his men. He then led his men as they cleared and seized the town, and not one of his men was killed or injured. Although he was recommended for the Medal of Honor shortly afterward, he received the Silver Star (the German tank incident was not mentioned in his award citation). He was already highly decorated at the end of World War II when General James Maurice “Slimm Jim” Gavin, 
the assistant commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, selected him to be the representative when the Netherlands wished to bestow their nation’s highest honor, the Orange Lanyard of the Military Order of William, 
as a unit award for the valiant efforts of the entire division in their liberation during Operation Market Garden. At the end of the war, Megellas and his platoon first to liberate Wobbelin Concentration Camp. 
On 02-05-1945. Later in life, Maggie reflected, “I was not prepared mentally to deal with the horror of the camp… it was not until our men witnessed this that we fully realized what we had been fighting for. The destruction of the monstrosity the Nazis had created was the cause greater than ourselves that we had often alluded to but never fully understood. It was a defining moment in our lives: who we were, what we believed in, and what we stood for.”
Throughout the war, Megellas served with Company H, 504 PIR, which he would later come to command. In January 1946, he led his rifle company down Fifth Avenue in New York City in the Victory Parade 
In 1946, Megellas left the active Army with the rank of captain and served for a further 16 years in the Army Reserve. He retired as a lieutenant colonel. he served with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) 
from 1946 to 1978 and served two tours in the Vietnam War. He wrote a memoir of his wartime experiences entitled All the Way to Berlin: A Paratrooper at War in Europe (2003). 
Death and burial ground of Megellas, James “Maggie”.
In May 1962, Megellas married the love of his life, former Miss Ripon 1960, Carole Margaret, born Laehn 
of Fond du Lac, an accomplished pianist who was a contestant in the 1960 Miss Wisconsin pageant in Kenosha, Wisconsin. They had two children, James and Stephen, and subsequently four grandchildren. Carole died at age 83 on 29-10-2022, in Texas. Maggie Megellas 
passed away on 02-04-2020 in Colleyville, Texas, just 22 days after his 103rd birthday. Megellas, James “Maggie” is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, United States. Section 75 Site 1262.
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