Fonds - John Cardoulis fonds

John Cardoulis (1926-1997), fire fighter, fire instructor and fire commissioner, and writer, was born in West Lynn, Massachusetts, the son of Nicholas and Anna (Kelly) Cardoulis. He married Doreen Jackman of Grand Falls, Newfoundland. They had eight children. He died in St. John's in September 1997.

Cardoulis was the son of a Greek-American immigrant tailor and a Newfoundland-born girl from Glenwood who met and married in the United States. When John was eight years old, his mother returned to Newfoundland and raised her family in Windsor. John Cardoulis retained his American citizenship. When he was about 18 years old, he was drafted into the American Air Force, Northeast Air Command. He graduated from the Denver Fire Instructors' School and served sixteen years in the fire services of several American military bases and. later, with the civil service. He worked at military bases in the United States, as well as Thule (Greenland), Goose Bay (Labrador), Harmon Field (Stephenville), and Pepperell (St. John's).

In 1960 Cardoulis accepted employment in St. John's with J.C. Pratt Ltd. selling fire equipment. He also continued to work in the field of fire investigation in Newfoundland, serving as Provincial Fire Commissioner (1978-86). Cardoulis maintained a strong association with the US military as a consultant on firefighting and as a member of the American Legion.

In 1977-78, Cardoulis served in the Department of Canada Command, with administrative authority over American Legion posts, a jurisdiction that also included Ireland and Australia. Cardoulis was especially interested in the American presence in Newfoundland during and after World War II. Cardoulis published two books, A Friendly Invasion: The Americans in Newfoundland, 1940-1990 (St. John's, 1990) and A Friendly Invasion II: A Personal Touch (St. John's, 1993). He prepared a third manuscript on the American military in Newfoundland which is yet unpublished.