Image:Steponas_darius.jpg '''Steponas Darius''' (born '''Steponas Darašius'''; January_8, 1896 in Rubiškė, Lithuania – July_17, 1933 near Soldin, Germany) was a Lithuanian-American pilot. Born in Rubiskes, in the district of Memel (now Klaipėda, Lithuania), Darašius emigrated to the USA with his family in 1907. In 1917 he joined the United States Army, after the United States entered World_War_I, and changed his name to Darius. He served as a telephone operator in the 149th field artillery regiment, fighting in France and was awarded the Purple_Heart medal. In 1920 he returned to Lithuania, and joined the Lithuanian army, graduating from military school in 1921. While in Lithuania he completed aviation training. In 1927 he returned to the USA and started working in civil aviation. On July_15, 1933, he along with Stasys_Girėnas, attempted a nonstop flight from New_York_City, USA to Kaunas, Lithuania - a total of 7,186 km, in Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker airplane named "Lituanica". After successfully crossing the Atlantic_Ocean in 37 hours and 11 minutes of nonstop flight, they crashed on July_17, 0:36 AM (Berlin Time) by the village of Kuhdamm, near Soldin, Germany (now Pszczelnik, Mysliborz area, Poland), due to difficult weather conditions combined with engine defects. Both aviators were killed in the crash. They covered a distance of 3,984 Miles (6,411 Kilometers) without landing, only 650 km short of their final destination. ==See also== *Lituanica for complete information ==External links== *Palwaukee Airport (Wheeling, Illinois) featured on Lithuanian banknote Darius, Steponas Darius, Steponas Darius, Steponas Darius, Steponas Darius, Steponas Category:Lithuanian_Army_officers Lt:Steponas_Darius Pl:Steponas_Darius Ru:Дарюс,_Стяпонас De:Darius_und_Girėnas Sv:Steponas_Darius