79 COLLEGE AVE WELCOME HOME
  • Home
    • Overview
    • Undergraduate Chapter
    • Pig Dinner
  • Our History
    • National Register
    • Brother Reflection Videos
    • Year Book Pic by Class Year
    • Other Historical Facts
    • Campaign Video
  • Learn More
    • Donor List
  • FAQ
  • Blog
  • Pledge Form
  • Contact Us
  • Other Links

Omega Mu Veteran: John N. Merrill

1/24/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
"Furthering through perseverance"
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 San Juan Hill, Santiago de Cuba, Sulu Archipelago, Chateau-Thierry, Verdun, El Guettar, Elba, Monte Della Vedetta, the Battle of the Bulge, Rabaul, Inchon, Pusan, Chosin Reservoir, Pork Chop Hill, Hue, Phu Cat, The Iron Triangle, Hamburger Hill, la Drang Valley, 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 Spanish-American War to the present. Thank you.

Omega Mu
Veteran Brother,

John N. Merrill, 1905

Picture
1904 group photo with John N. Merrill
​Military Career
  • John N. Merrill fought in the Moro Rebellion (1899-1913) during the Philippine-American War in the Sulu Archipelago, and during the war he was injured in the knee by a bolo knife during a fight with a Moro chief whom he shot. Later, John met Captain John Pershing, who would become General “Black Jack” Pershing, the commander of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I, 1917-1918. ​
Picture
Picture
Captain John Pershing in Sulu
Picture
Morro warrior with a bolo knife
  • After fighting in the Moro Rebellion for five years, John Merrill served for six years in Persia as the military instructor to the Pasha’s calvary and troops. 
Picture
  • After his service to the pasha in Persia (Became Iran in 1935), John N. Merrill served in France during World War I. He was in command of a company of African-American soldiers during the Meuse-Argonne offensive. ​During the offensive, John was gassed
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

"Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.

Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,

As under a green sea, I saw him drowning"
(A small portion  of Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen)


  • John N. Merrill was awarded the Croix de Guerre for his exceptional leadership in leading his men during constant German machine gun fire during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. 
Picture
Picture
  • After the Armistice, Major John N. Merrill was stationed on the Rhine River Valley to act as a civil governor for several small towns. 
Picture
Map of the Rhine River Valley after World War I ended in 1918.
Picture
“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)
Picture
Picture
Picture
Fraternally,
Chip Chapman, ’82
​Perge

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Copyright © 2018 Phi Gamma Delta House Corporation Maine. All rights reserved.
  • Home
    • Overview
    • Undergraduate Chapter
    • Pig Dinner
  • Our History
    • National Register
    • Brother Reflection Videos
    • Year Book Pic by Class Year
    • Other Historical Facts
    • Campaign Video
  • Learn More
    • Donor List
  • FAQ
  • Blog
  • Pledge Form
  • Contact Us
  • Other Links