Blog Archives

Ralph B. Pond, 1910

3/28/2021

Truthfully, there is no fraternal brotherhood quite like Omega Mu at the University of Maine. We are proud of our history, and we are proud of the impressive number of fraternal brothers who played on many University of Maine athletic teams. With conviction and commitment, our Omega Mu athlete brothers brought a great deal of joy and satisfaction to the university community, creating many wonderful memories since the first baseball team was established at Maine State College in the 1870's. The worked together for the success of each Maine team, and the overall civic good of the University of Maine. The sheer number of Omega Mu athlete brothers is an unqualified triumph for the University of Maine. They each gave their best efforts on each team, and what they achieved perfectly compliments what we fraternally believe: drive and determination. It is a heady athletic legacy. Accordingly, their accomplishments claim our fraternal attention and respect. For the eminence of their athletic success; and, above all, for being our Omega Mu brothers, we are proud. Therefore, in the linked soul and spirit of our long fraternal history, we gratefully remember and celebrate our QTV and Omega Mu brothers who participated on many varsity athletic teams at the University of Maine. Their sacrifice of time was worth the effort for them and the student body at the University of Maine who watched them play. They created many warm memories since the early 1870’s. For the eminence of their athletic success; and, above all, for being our Omega Mu brothers, we are all very proud.

Thoreau said it best: “What a difference, whether in all your walks, you meet only strangers, or in one house is one who knows you, and whom you know. To have a brother…How rare these things are.” How true that is, and we remain that way to this day. That is a heady fraternal legacy.

Omega Mu Athlete
Ralph B. Pond,
1910

Hebron Academy

Omega Mu Years

House pictures, 1910

Maine Masque

Sophomore Declamation

Ivy Day, 1910

University of Maine Athlete

Football

Baseball

Track

Boston Red Sox

Huntington Avenue Grounds, now the site of Northeastern University, where the Boston Americans (Red Sox) played until Fenway Park opened in 1912.

"Ralph Pond was an outfielder, and the very day he joined the Red Sox he saw service. The Sox had likely been impressed when, on May 28, Pond won the state intercollegiate championship for his team in Orono with a big three-run homer in the first inning of the deciding game, beating Colby 3-0. June 8, 1910, was a big day for youngsters joining the Boston team – not only did Ralph Pond come up that day, but so did fellow UMainer Marty McHale and Hap Myers, a first baseman. Pond’s debut (and swan song, as it turned out) was a rough outing, not just for the 5-foot-9 Pond but for the team in general. It may have been an imposing task to be asked to fill in for Tris Speaker for the day.

Tris Speaker

Fellow U-Maine players with Ralph Pond:
Mary McHale and Hap Meyers

"Our man Pond started in center and failed to get a hit off veteran White Sox hurler Frank “Piano Mover” Smith. He struck out his first time up, leading off in the second, though the Red Sox scored later that inning when Duffy Lewis drove in Larry Gardner. Chicago came back with two runs in the bottom of the third, taking the lead. With one away, Red Sox shortstop Harry Lord booted pitcher Smith’s grounder. White Sox leadoff hitter Charlie French flied to center but Pond misjudged it and the ball got by him, enabling Smith to scamper all the way around from first. Pond threw the ball in to Lord, covering second, but Lord mishandled the ball and French took third, scoring when the next batter, Doc White, flied to Harry Hooper in right. (White, one of the White Sox’ regular starting pitchers, was playing center field that day.)

In the fourth, Pond slapped a hot shot back to the mound, but Smith snared it and fired to first for the out. In the fifth, the Red Sox took the lead back with two runs of their own. Lord made his third error of the game in the sixth and French was safe. He made it all the way from first to third on a 5-3 sacrifice by White, because Red Sox pitcher Charley Smith, who had run over to cover third, dropped the ball, then fired back across the diamond. French scored by taking a huge lead off third, and when catcher Carrigan fired down to third base to pick him off, French dug for home and the third baseman threw the ball back in the dirt as French ran for the plate. Dougherty hit a double into center, and Pond chased after it, inadvertently kicking it all the way out to the center-field wall in the process. Pond singled in the sixth and stole a base -- qualifying him for momentary membership in that year’s “Boston Speed Boys” -- (Bill Lee’s The Baseball Necrology)"

“What if the space be long and wide,
That parts us from our brother’s side
A soul-joined chain unites our band,
And memory links us hand in hand.”
(Phi Gamma Delta fraternity song)

Fraternally,
Chip Chapman, ’82
Perge

0 Comments

Mark L. Hersey, 1884

3/3/2021

0 Comments

Our Omega Mu brothers who served in the military are cherished and constant fraternal friends, and we would like to say thank you for the steadfast, purposeful commitment you made to our nation to defend those four freedoms we all believe in: “Freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.” For those brothers who were killed in defense of these freedoms, they will always occupy a consecrated place in our linked fraternal heart because they exemplify the idea of superlative commitment, strength, and fortitude for the good to the end itself. The greatness of their collective purpose and will, on our nation’s behalf, will never be forgotten. By their “clear-eyed faith and fearless heart,” these brothers have left us a fraternal legacy that echoes what we often say about Omega Mu Fijis: “Perseverance and determination are omnipotent.” Their code of integrity, courage, duty, responsibility, and self-sacrifice on behalf of our nation is a powerful legacy we can all be proud of as Omega Mu Fijis, and we are deeply grateful for each of them.

Whether it was at New Orleans, Red River, Fort Blakely, Marianna, San Juan Hill, Santiago de Cuba, Chateau-Thierry, Verdun, El Guettar, Elba, Monte Della Vedetta, the Battle of the Bulge, Rabaul, Inchon, Pusan, Chosin Reservoir, Pork Chop Hill, Hue, Easter Offensive, Phu Cat, The Iron Triangle, Hamburger Hill, la Drang Valley, Bien Hoa, Khe Sanh, Rumaila, Al-Batin, Medina Ridge, Kabul, Kandahar, our Omega Mu brothers have demonstrated devotion to duty in defense of freedom and liberty. They are the stability of our nation, and we, the Omega Mu brotherhood, revere, honor, and salute their persevering and determined spirit within our great nation and our historic brotherhood. We will always be grateful for the military service of every Omega Mu veteran from the Civil War to the present. Thank you.

Omega Mu Veteran
Mark L. Hersey,
1884

Military Career

Mark L. Hersey started his military career by serving in the 9th Infantry at Fort Mojave and Fort Apache in Arizona, working as an Indian Agent with the Hualapai, Mojave, and Apache Indians. He was as a company commander, signal officer, topographer, and quartermaster. He would also serve in the 9th Infantry during the Boxer Rebellion.

9th Infantry

Fort Mojave, Arizona

Fort Apache, Arizona

Maine State College Faculty

1894-1895 Maine State College faculty photo with Mark L. Hersey, first row, wearing stripped pants.

Spanish-American War

Mark L. Hersey served in the Spanish-American War, and he saw action in Santiago, Cuba.

Boxer Rebellion

Mark L. Hersey was a captain in the 9th Infantry during the Boxer Rebellion, and he participated in the China Relief Expedition from Tientsin to Peking.

General Arthur MacArthur, Jr., father of Douglas MacArthur.

Captain Mark L. Hersey

The 9th U. S. Infantry marching toward Peking from Tientsin, China.

Mexico

Mark L. Hersey was part of the 10,000 men U.S. military operation, led by Brigadier General John J. Pershing, to capture Pancho Villa after he had raided various towns, most notably the town of Columbus, New Mexico. President Wilson gave the order to Newton D. Baker, a Phi Gamma Delta brother, to plan the invasion of Mexico by Pershing and his men. Although Villa was not killed or captured, the expedition into Mexico did stop Villa's raids on border towns in the United States.

Brigadier General John J. Pershing and his men going into Mexico.

World War I

Hershey was Phi Gamma Delta’s highest-ranking officer during World War I, and he briefly com manded the 4th Infantry Division during World War I. He Fought in the Meuse Argonne Offensive and St. Mihiel. He led the 4th Division of the 2nd United States Army on a successful assault on the German position at Bois des Loges. For his service during World War I, Mark L. Hersey Hersey was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the French Legion of Honor, and the Croix de Guerre

Meuse-Argonne Offensive Map

Mark L. Hersey's IV Division during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.

Hersey led the 4th Division on a successful assault on the German position at Bois des Loges.

USS General Mark L. Hersey

The USS General M. L. Hersey (AP-148) was commissioned on July 29th, 1944. The ares served by the Hersey included the Admiralty Islands. the Russell Islands, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Philippines, the Palaus, and the Marianna. On its last wartime voyage home, it was reported that a cruiser that was near the USS Hersey, the U. S. S. Indianapolis, was sunk by a Japanese submarine.

“In July 1945, the Indianapolis completed a top-secret high-speed trip to deliver parts of Little Boy, the first nuclear weapon ever used in combat, to the United States Army Air Force Base on the island of Tinian, and subsequently departed for the Philippines on training duty. At 0015 on 30 July, the ship was torpedoed by the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-58, and sank in 12 minutes. Of 1,195 crewmen aboard, approximately 300 went down with the ship.[4] The remaining 890 faced exposure, dehydration, saltwater poisoning, and shark attacks while stranded in the open ocean with few lifeboats and almost no food or water. The Navy only learned of the sinking four days later, when survivors were spotted by the crew of a PV-1 Ventura on routine patrol. Only 316 survived.[4] The sinking of the Indianapolis resulted in the greatest single loss of life at sea, from a single ship, in the history of the US Navy.”

The USS Hersey was the flagship bringing occupation troops to Japan in September 1945, and it received one battle star for her wartime service in World War II and two battle stars for service during the Korean War.