Omega Mu Veteran: William P. Keenan

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 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, Kab- ul, Kandahar, our Omega Mu brothers have demonstrated devotion to duty in defense of freedom and liberty. They are the stability of our na- tion, and we, the Omega Mu brotherhood, revere, honor, and salute their persevering and determined spirit within our great nation and our great brotherhood. We will always be grateful for the military service of every Omega Mu veteran from the Spanish-American War to the present.

Omega Mu Veteran
William P. Keenan,
​1940

Military Career

​•Served in Yankee Division during World War II
•Lieutenant in the Army during the Korean War
•He was serving in 5th Infantry Regiment Combat Team
•He was rallying his men in an attempt to escape entrapment by the Chinese Army on April 23, 1951, ten miles north of the 38th parallel near Tosong-Kogae, but he was captured and taken to Pyok-tong prisoner of war camp, camp #5
•It was the largest single battle of the Korean War
•The Chinese attacked with 250,000 men in 27 divisions
•William was subsequently used by the Chinese in radio broadcasts
•For his actions he earned the Silver Star
•He was the third liberated Fiji POW during the Korean War.

Korean Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Pictures taken inside Pyok-tong

Receiving mail, above; political speech, below

“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!