Joseph S. Boulos, 1941

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 that we will always 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
Joseph S. Boulos,
1941

“Therefore, since we are surrounded  by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off ever hindrance and run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

It is something to ponder, isn’t it, a cloud of witnesses. This QTV-Omega Mu brotherhood has a large cloud of witnesses since 1874, and one of them is Joseph Sebastian Boulos. Joe moved beyond the predictable and the safe to confront the evil and violence stalking the world. He left the familiar and comfortable of his fraternal life in this house with his brothers; and, most importantly, the abiding love of his family to pursue something bigger with courage of conviction because he held fast to the good. That is greatness. Joe’s military career during World War II was distinguished in navigating the tracer and flak-filled sky between England and France and Germany as a navigator in a B-24 Liberator with courage, hope, and persistent resolve. He risked it all, but as

Friedrich Schiller so clearly stated, “To save all, you must risk all.” That is a sobering truth. Joe knew that, and without any fear and trembling he chose the risk of trusting in the winning gamble for the power of good to prevail over evil. He stood tall; he stood firmly in doing his part in making darkness yield before light. He was an exemplary witness, to my way of thinking, of the costly grace of service to humanity and our nation for the good to prevail. 

Omega Mu Years

Joe is wearing the Sinatra style black hat near the back.

World War II

Left picture: Joe is on the right. Right picture: Joe is the third one in from the right.

Joe is first on the left.

Joe is in the middle in the back row.

Targets included U-boat installations at Kiel, the port at Bremen, a chemical plant at Ludwigshafen, ball bearing works at Berlin, aero-engine plants at Rostock, aircraft factories at Munich, the marshalling yard at Coblenz, the motor works at Ulm, and the oil refineries at Hamburg and Magdeburg. 

Flight crew of the “Plastered Bastard”
Joe Boulos was a Navigator of a B-24 Flying Fortress with the 704th Squadron of the 446th Bombardment Group during World War II based in Flixton, England.

Bombing Runs

Preparing for an early morning mission from Flixton Field.

446th on a bombing run to Gotha, Germany

U-boats destroyed in Kiel, Germany

Crash of the "Dragon Lady"

Joe was killed during a planned afternoon bombing run when the “Dragon Lady” crashed on take-off, killing everyone on board, on April 27th, 1944.

"With their plane badly damaged from the morning mission they were to to fly this
​mission in another plane,
"Dragon Lady."

He (Joe Boulos) was on the crew of the B-24H Liberator Bomber "Dragon Lady" when they crashed on take off from Flixton Field. They had bombed a site in France earlier that day, and were embarking on another mission. Their plane was loaded with live bombs and exploded in the crash. The entire crew was killed along with two RAF men in a radar shack."

Joe was awarded the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters for bravery.

Honoring the 446th Bomb Group

St. Mary’s Church Honoring the 446th Bomb Group

Joseph Sebastian Boulos Library

“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!