  Our Omega Mu veteran-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. 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 honor the heroism of all of our brothers who have served in the armed forces from the Civil War to the present. Thank you. Omega Mu Veteran Lewis J. Catheron, 1912  Omega Mu Years             
    Lewis J. Catheron was a captain in the United States Army during World War I. He was in France from 1917-1919.  His first assignments were with the 7th, 52nd, and 48th United States Army Coast Artillery Regiments in France.   Lewis J. Catheron is in this photo. 7th C. A. C.    52nd C.A.C.    48th C.A.C. Helmet   At the end of World War I, Lewis J. Catheron was serving on the 7th Army Corps Artillery Staff with the army of occupation in the Rhineland.   The American occupation army was in zone 2, with the major city being Coblenz.  American soldiers entering Coblenz to begin occupation duty.  7th Army Corps Artillery in Zone 2.    “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
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Our Omega Mu veteran-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. 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 honor the heroism of all of our brothers who have served in the armed forces from the Civil War to the present. Thank you. Omega Mu Veteran George B. Walker, 1944  Omega Mu Years  World War II  George B. Walker was a sergeant in a anti-aircraft artillery unit in the United States Army , and he died on August 2, 1944.      “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 Omega Mu Voice Andrew T. Soloby, 1971  Bill Soloby, 1971 "I roomed with John Rhodes, in his trailer, for one semester in 1969. One day he told me not to use the toilet the next day because he had to do some work on it. That night I spent, I spent several hours at Pat's and then went back to the trailer.  Omega Mu Brother John J. Rhodes, Jr.   I got up rather late the next day to the infusion of beer from the outing at Pat's, and I went straight to the toilet, completely forgetting what John had told the previous day. While sitting on the toilet, I heard John yell loudly, and he started to get up. I put on my pants and shoes; I had a t-shirt on. This was February, but I had no time to get a jacket; I just got out of there because I could see the pissed-off flaring of John's eyes on me, intent. he chased me, the great karate master, for a half a mile, but he never got me.  To this day I thank the Lord that he did not catch me. No way I am fighting John Rhodes. I had seen him in action a couple of times. Once, in an Old Town bar, he wiped out three huge dudes, fools that they were. Don't get me wrong, I helped a little. I did not go back to the trailer for a day; thankfully, he accepted my apology. We were always good friends."  John Rhodes "We were always good friends." “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 Omega Mu Voice John L. Collins, 1970  John Collins, 1970 On the evening of Dec. 1, 1969, lottery draft numbers were drawn to establish the sequence of men to be drafted for the war in Vietnam.   Briefly, random birthdays were selected and the sequence in which they were picked established the sequence of draftees. Here’s a quote from Wikipedia that describes some of the process:  "The days of the year, including February 29, were represented by the numbers 1 through 366 written on slips of paper. The slips were placed in separate plastic capsules that were mixed in a shoebox and then dumped into a deep glass jar. Capsules were drawn from the jar one at a time." The first number drawn was 258 (September 14), so all registrants with that birthday were assigned lottery number 1. The second number drawn corresponded to April 24, and so forth. All men of draft age, those born 1944 to 1950 who shared a birth date would be called to serve at once.    Pictures of the first number being selected, 258, September 14th. The drawing of the numbers was televised, but we, being typical Omega Mu Fijis, forgot to turn on the TV in the library in time to catch the first 5-10 birthdays drawn. So, a bunch of us were watching the drawing together. If your number was drawn early, you were going to be drafted for sure, so these guys would immediately head down to Pat’s to drown their sorrows. If your number was somewhere in the middle (no-man’s-land) and you didn’t know whether you were going to be drafted or not, you headed down to Pat’s to drown your uncertainty. If your number came up over 200 or so, it was highly unlikely you would be drafted, so you immediately went to Pat’s to celebrate. If you were still sitting in front of the TV as the last few numbers were drawn, you didn’t know whether you were lucky or not. Remember, we had missed the first few birthdays drawn. As the last few numbers were drawn, the guys sitting in front of that TV knew they were either 1) really lucky to be way at the end of the list and not likely to be drafted, or 2) in the first 5-10 numbers drawn and would be the first to go. After the last number was drawn, a few guys were still sitting there. We all had a reason to be at Pat’s that night.  "If your number was drawn early, you were going to be drafted for sure, so these guys would immediately head down to Pat’s to drown their sorrows."  "If your number was somewhere in the middle (no-man’s-land) and you didn’t know whether you were going to be drafted or not, you headed down to Pat’s to drown your uncertainty."  "We all had a reason to be at Pat's that night."  “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 Omega Mu Voice Gary R. Sawyer, 1967  Gary R. Sawyer, 1967 So you’d know..... We started the Mud Bowl in ’65, I think. The fraternity next door was the ATO, and they had been placed on ‘Social Probation’ and were not allowed to use their house for a few years. We asked, and were granted permission to plow and till up their back yard. And, we started the Mud Bowl as a fund-raiser. Either that year, or the next, we got an old car, towed it to our parking lot, and had sledge hammers to sell “Smash-the-Car’ chances.   Pig Dinner   First on the left is Cliff Goudey and then Gary Sawyer  Second brother in from the left is John Collins, Cliff Goudy and then Gary Sawyer, the brother wearing a vest.  “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 |
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