Beta Remembers its Servicemen, Veterans Day 2013

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The South Bay/Long Beach Beta Alumni Association thanks and honors all of our past and present servicemen and women! Freedom isn’t free, and because of your sacrifices we get to enjoy the liberties that we do. Today, make sure to thank a veteran for their service.

Like all other worthwhile endeavors, Beta’s presence in the military, defending freedom around the world, has always been strong. A comprehensive list of the thousands of Betas that have served in every branch of the military throughout history since Beta’s formation is not practicable. But all Betas and non-Betas alike that have fought for our freedom, been injured, lost their life, or suffered through the sacrifices military life entails, are remembered at all times and are especially honored on this day. The General Fraternity has maintained a list of particular Betas that have become, for one reason or another, distinguished in military service. Those Betas are listed below, and stand as a representative sample of all the brave soldiers that have fought for the security of us all.

Jerry M. Blesch, Centre ’60 / U.S. Naval Academy1962,Captain, U.S. Navy (Ret), Surface Warfare Officer, Commanding Officer – frigate USS Richard L. Page (FFG 5), Commanding Officer – destroyer tender USS Puget Sound (AD 38), Commodore – Destroyer Squadron 25 (COMDESRON 25), Commanding Officer – battleship USS Wisconsin (BB 64); served as General Secretary of Beta Theta Pi following military retirement

Omar Bundy, DePauw 1881,Major General, U.S. Army (Ret), initiated counter-attack that saved Paris from impending capture by the Germans in World War I; namesake of USS General Omar Bundy (AP-152)

 

Lt. General Donald L. Cromer

Donald L. Cromer, Washington State ’58, Lieutenant General, U.S. Air Force, Master Missile Operations Officer, Master Space Operations Officer, Commander – Space Systems Division, Air Force Systems Command (AFSC); 2010 recipient of the Oxford Cup. In 1986 General Cromer became commander of the Space and Missile Test Organization, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Brother Cromer passed peacefully at home on June 3, 2012, after a courageous bout with cancer.

John Coburn, Wabash 1846, Brigadier General, Union Army and founder of the Wabash College Chapter

Thomas R. Cullison, Hanover ‘68, Rear Admiral, Medical Corps, U.S. Navy (Ret), Medical Corps Officer, Medical Officer of the Marine Corps, 2004-2005; Commander, Navy Medicine East and Commander, Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, 2005-2007; Deputy Surgeon General of the Navy, 2007-2010[10]

Mark Divine, Colgate ‘85, Commander, U.S. Navy (Ret), Special Warfare (SEAL) Officer, founder of NavySEALs.com and SEAL FIT

John Perry Edwards, Kansas ‘39, Ensign, U.S. Naval Reserve, Naval Aviator during Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 Dec 1941, signaling the United States entry into World War II. Awarded Navy Cross for piloting a JRS-1 amphibian plane, equipped only with Springfield rifles, in search for and to obtain information of the enemy forces following the attack on Pearl Harbor and other U.S. military installations on Oahu[11]

Eric Erickson, Cornell ‘21, Spy during WWII, Provided key information that led to the bombing of Nazi oil fields

Gerald E. Gneckow, Idaho ‘60, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy (Ret), Surface Warfare Officer, Commanding Officer – guided missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 36), Commanding Officer – guided missile cruiser USS Richmond K. Turner (CG 20), Commanding Officer – battleship USS Iowa (BB 61), Commander – US Naval Forces South[12]

John Brown Gordon, Georgia 1854, Major General, Confederate States Army, United States Senator, and Governor of Georgia

Second Lieutenant Terrence C. Graves (1945-1968)

Terrence C. Graves, Miami ‘67, 2nd Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, infantry officer, 3rd Force Reconnaissance Company, Medal of Honor recipient (posthumous) during Vietnam War.

Dudley Jackson Hard, Wooster 1893, Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Founder of the American Legion

James Wallace Haverfield, Ohio State ‘39, Ensign, U.S. Navy, killed aboard the battelship USS Arizona (BB-39) during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941, signaling the United States entry into World War II. Namesake of Edsall class destroyerUSS Haverfield (DE-393).

Joe W. Kelly, DePauw ‘31 / U.S. Military Academy 1932,General, U.S. Air Force (Ret), Command Pilot, B-26 Marauder bomber pilot and Commander – 386th Bomb Group (Medium) during World War II, commanded various Strategic Air Command (SAC) bomber units in the 1940s and 1950s, first four star Commander – Military Air Transport Service (MATS) in the 1960s, to include during the 1962Cuban Missile Crisis[13]

Jonathan Letterman, Washington & Jefferson 1845, Major and Surgeon, Union Army/Army of the Potomac, Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War; known as the “Father of Battlefield Medicine”; namesake of the former Letterman Army Medical Center

Frank S. Lomax, Nebraska ‘39 / U.S. Naval Academy1940, Ensign, U.S. Navy, killed aboard the battleship USS Arizona (BB-39) during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941, signaling the United States entry into World War II.[14]

Daniel McCleary, Miami 1844, Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Killed in Mexican War. First Beta to die in war.

James Rogers McConnell, Virginia ‘10, Sergeant and fighter pilot, Lafayette Escadrille; French Croix de guerre recipient and one of the first Americans to die in World War I

Major Thomas B. McGuire as an Aviation Cadet

Thomas McGuire, Georgia Tech ‘44, Major, US Army Air Forces, P-38 Lightning fighter pilot and one of the most decorated American combat pilots of World War II; aerial fighter ace, Medal of Honor recipient; namesake of present day McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey.

Major Everett P. Pope, USMC

Everett P. Pope, Bowdoin ‘41, Major, U.S. Marine Corps, Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipient, Medal of Honor recipient during World War II for his conspicuous gallantry on Peleliu in September 1944 while leading his men in an assault on a strategic hill, and for holding it, with rocks and bare fists when ammunition ran low, against enemy forces suicide attacks.

Emory J. Pike

Emory Jenison Pike, Iowa Wesleyan 1899 / U.S. Military Academy1901, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, Medal of Honor recipient (posthumous) during World War I (the only West Point graduate to be awarded the Medal of Honor during World War I)

Matthew Quay

Matthew Stanley Quay, Washington & Jefferson 1850, Colonel, Union Army, served in various capacities in the American Civil War and Congress awarded him the Medal of Honor for gallantry at the battle of Fredericksburg.

William B. Rosson, Oregon ‘40, General, U.S. Army (Ret), Combat Infantryman, recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross for valor during the invasion of Anzio in World War II; Deputy Commander of U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam; Commander in Chief, U.S. Southern Command

Jack Ruggles, UC Berkeley ‘36, Pilot for Sir Winston Churchill

Thomas E. Schaefer, Lehigh ‘53, Colonel, U.S. Air Force (Ret), Command Pilot, highest ranking U.S. military officer (Colonel, USAF) held captive during the 444-day Iranian Hostage Crisis at the U.S. Embassy in Teheran, Iran, 1979-1981[16]

John Taliaferro Thompson, Indiana 1881 / U.S. Military Academy1882, Brigadier General, U.S. Army (Ret), artillery officer / ordnance officer; inventor of the Thompson submachine gun (aka “Tommy Gun”)

David C. Waybur, UC Berkeley ‘42, 1st Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Medal of Honor recipient; killed in action in Germany, 28 Mar 1945, two years after the action which earned him the MOH; also a recipient of the Silver Star and Purple Heart

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