The memories of the Turkish invasion remain indelible, with war veteran Vassos Georgiou describing on the show “Alpha Summer” what he experienced in 1974, on the front lines against the Turkish invaders.

On that dark morning of July 20, 1974, Mr. Georgiou was at his home in Dikomo as Turkish planes flew over the island.

“We woke up to see the sky full of planes. As soon as we saw what was happening above our village, between the village and the Turkish Cypriot sector, my first priority was to enlist in the nearest battalion available.”

Mr. Georgiou was a reservist, and he enlisted in the 361st Infantry Battalion, the battalion that suffered by far the greatest losses, with 91 killed. Many of them were listed as missing, including two of Mr. Georgiou’s first cousins.

“When we enlisted, they loaded us onto a military truck right then and there and distributed us to the various frontline outposts.”

In 1974, he served at Outpost 1, which was directly across from where the paratroopers were landing.

“Despite the order not to fire, no such order reached our outpost, so we started firing at the paratroopers.”

As he notes, “the most terrifying experience is the planes; they literally paralyze you. Every time, 10 Dakotas would arrive and drop 50 paratroopers each, followed by a great many helicopters—dozens of them—which dropped ammunition.”