Category: DZAA Heroes

Happy Veterans’ Day!

On this special day, the Delta Zeta Alumni Association wants to give a shout-out to all of our Alumni who so willingly give, and have given, of themselves as they serve their country in the Armed Forces.

CRAIG HARRIDGE  TIM WHITE

Brother Craig Harridge         Brother Tim White

 QUINCY BANIS  SHAUN GEARY

Brother Quincy Banis          Brother Shaun Geary

JOHN BAKER  BRIAN SPURGEON

Brother John Baker                 Brother Brian Spurgeon

ERROL CRUZ

Brother Errol Cruz

We all want to say THANK YOU for all that you do and have done to protect our country and to guarantee that we can continue to enjoy the freedoms we have in the United States of America.  To each one of you, we owe a great debt as, today and every day, you exemplify the true meaning of what it is to be a Chi Phi!

Chi Phi Heroes – Remembering the long forgotten

Chi Phi counts a long list of patriots among its members. Today we honor the hundreds of Chi Phis that are currently serving in the armed forces and the thousands that have come before them.  The first major conflict in which Chi Phis saw battle in service to their country was the American Civil War.  By the start of the war in 1861 there were about twenty men’s social fraternities in existence, Chi Phi was not only one of these groups, they were the sole fraternity to have men fight for both the Union and the Confederacy.

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The Princeton Society and the Southern Order sent nearly their entire active membership to fight. Below is a list of these courageous Chi Phis:

Princeton Society

  • Charles Smith DeGraw, Princeton Society 1857, USA, Major in Army, Naval Medical Corps, Surgeon. Died in San Francisco 1882. Unknown which regiment in army or navy and unknown if death was in battle or a cause of one.
  • Abraham DePue, Princeton Society 1858, USA Record unknown.  Died in Mississippi in 1878.
  • Henry L. VanDyke, Princeton Society 1858, USA Record Unknown.
  • Charles Cossit, Princeton Society 1859, CSA killed in battle at Milton, TN. Record Unknown.[de1]
  • Sylvester Woodbridge, Princeton Society 1859, USA naval surgeon. Record Unknown.
  • Edwin DeGraw Conover, Princeton Society 1860, USA navy, Record unknown.
  • Lucius Henry Warren, Princeton Society 1860, army, USA Brigadier General. Record Unkown

Southern Order

  • Agustus Moore Flythe, (Alpha) Chapel Hill 1859, CSA, Private, Record Unknown.
  • Thomas Capehart, (Alpha) Chapel Hill 1861, CSA, 1st regiment North Carolina Volunteer Infantry, 3rd lieutenant, action at Big Bethel Virginia, 1862 promoted to Captain of artillery in 3rd North Carolina Battery, action at Seven Pines, 1864 Calvary assignment commission, Captain, served until end of war.
  • John Calhoun Tucker, (Alpha) Chapel Hill 1861, CSA, 39th Mississippi Infatry, Private, later commissioned as Captain, Died at home from illness in 1862.
  • William Green, (Alpha) Chapel Hill 1862, CSA, 5th Alabama Infantry, 2nd lieutenant, served until surrender at Appomattox, wounded at Sharpsburgh.[de2]
  • Fletcher Seymour, (Alpha) Chapel Hill 1862, CSA, 6th Tennessee Infantry, Private, after eight months commissioned as 2nd lieutenant, served until discharged due to a disability in October 1862, saw action in battles at Columbus and Mumsfordville.

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On two separate occasions the records of the Southern Order were buried to conceal them from the advancing Union Army, also on two occasions the Chapel Hill Chapter (Alpha) was reduced to just one active member.

In the Southern Order 55 members of Alpha were in the Army, including all charter members, 45 of the first 47 initiated, 6 losing their lives in the conflict. Beta(Centenary): every living member entered, 3 being killed. Gamma(Davidson): contributed practically all her members, 9 being killed. Delta(UVA) lost 1. Epsilon(HSC) lost 5 of her 6 members in the war.

On Monday, Veteran’s Day, lets not just remember those courageous men who have sacrificed everything in our defense, lets also remember the Chapters who surrendered, in many cases, the very existence of their organization to pick up the burden of the able to protect those who could not protect themselves.

Recognizing Our Heroes – Shaun Geary

Lessons Learned Applied Overseas – by David Ebner

Brother GearyIMG_6426, formally known as Lieutenant Junior Grade Shaun Geary, was the Damage Control Assistant aboard the USS Porter. Shaun was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy in December of 2009, after graduating from the Naval ROTC program at the University of South Florida. Along the way, he received a scholarship to the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program at University of South Florida. During the 2005 fall semester, Shaun joined the Chi Phi Fraternity. He served the Fraternity as the Chapter Beta, Delta, New Member Educator, and Alumni Relations Chairman. In 2007, after a Membership review that left Delta Zeta with eight Brothers, he took over as Alpha.

Brother Geary believes that some of the lessons he learned as an officer in his Chi Phi Chapter have directly assisted him as an officer in the U.S. Navy. “I tell people a lot that working with my peers in leadership positions in Brothersthe Chapter, and making decisions for the betterment of the Chapter regardless of whether your peers were fans of that decision, was a unique challenge. When I graduated and got out into the fleet, I found myself in a leadership position where I had people older than me that I managed. I had to make decisions for the group and for the betterment of the Navy and the ship. That was the biggest takeaway that I had from being in the Fraternity.”

Since his graduation in December of 2009, Brother Geary spent 24 months as a commissioned officer on deployment. Shaun reported to his first ship, USS Massa Verde and was deployed a few weeks later to Haiti to help with the earthquake relief efforts in January of 2010. From there, he continued on a seven-month On-the-Al-Basra-Oil-Terminal-in-2010deployment to the Middle East before returning in August of 2010. He deployed again on the same ship with less than two weeks’ notice in March 2011 to return home in January of 2012. He was able to leave the ship early to get married on January 27 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In March 2012, Shaun detached from his command on the USS Mesa Verde to attend Damage Control School. He then flew out to meet his new ship, the USS Porter in May 2012.

Brother Geary had this message for all the Chi Phis in a ROTC Program across the country, “Challengers to a junior officer in any branch of the military are going to be universal, you are going to deal with personnel issues. You need to take care of your people. You really have to take the meaning of leadership to a new level. You will have to understand what it means to be responsible and accountable for something. For those Brothers who are Answering-questions-for-the-press-post-deploymentin ROTC right now, just knowing how to balance life, Brotherhood and ROTC in itself is a challenge. Unfortunately, it does not get easier. Once you get out to whatever branch you’re going to serve in, it just kind of picks up from there. Whether you deploy right away or stay stateside, you are going to have people serving under you and missions to accomplish. You’re probably already on the right track, so keep your head up, get ready to work some long hours, keep a positive mental attitude and it will save you in the long run.”

(Originally published in the online edition of the Chi Phi Chackett – to read the entire article, check out http://www.chiphi.org/chakettonline/articles/2013/05/lessons-learned-applied-overseas/)