Passing of a Delta Tau Delta in Iraq
 

I am sad to report the passing of a founding brother of the Theta Tau chapter of Delta Tau Delta here at Moravian College. Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert, 27, of the Army's 101st Airborne Division died when live grenades were tossed into tents at the division's command center. He was a 1997 graduate of the college. His wife, Theresa Flowers-Seifert, a founding sister of my ZTA chapter, survives him along with their 4month old baby boy Benjamin.

I am not aware of memorial services if anyone in the Lehigh Valley is a brother of DTD but I do know they are asking in lieu of flowers for donations made in his name to Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Lehigh Valley.

My prayers go to his family and friends.

Below are two links to the story from our local papers

http://www.pennlive.com/news/express...1840132240.xml

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-...l%2Dnews%2Dhed

My sympathy to his fellow brothers...
Michelle

My condolences to his family and friends. :(


By the way, I was at Moravian last month for a staff visit with the AST chapter there. I really enjoyed my time there, even entertained some thoughts of moving to that area in the future.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends -- and to all our troops and their families.

Sorry to hear of this loss.....
 

My prayers go out for the family of Mr. Seifert; particularly for his wife and young child.

We will pray for Brother Seifert and his family -- and all of our other service people.

While I am still trying to decide about this war, I dont like war that simple!!! I will not protest against it as I know there is more to this war than we are being told!

The reason I am not for this war is the fact that WE AS AMERICANS will lose people we know are related to and love.

It is a fact of life, a war brings causualties and death on both sides! That is what I hate. One of the TV prisoners of war is from Kansas, another who was killed is from the KC area in a suburb!

Damn how I hate to lose young Americans no matter what the reason is!

A customer early this morning came in mad as hell, why, because people in NY were protesting against the war. How soon it is forgotten about the Twin Towers at 9/11 and the lives lost.

I hang my head and pray for all of the men and women who are there fighting!:confused:

All those lost in this war are in our thoughts and prayers. Even if you don't agree with this please pray for those that are fighting for us.

May God rest his soul, and watch over his wife and child.

Greek War Deaths
 

At the risk of having a thread for each greek man or woman who dies while fighting in this war, here is the thread to mourn them all. Unfortunately I'm sure we'll have more before this war ends.

Rest in Peace
USMC Corporal Brian Matthew Kennedy, Phi Gamma Delta
Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert,101st Airborne Division, Delta Tau Delta
Capt. Ryan Beaupre, USMC, Sigma Pi

It appears from posts that at least three fraternity men have died in this war.

Considering how relatively few deaths we've had so far, that seems like an unfairly high percentage of our brothers.

How sad.

May he rest in peace
 

I'm so sorry to hear about another soldier's death. :( I'm assuming this is related to the grenade that was allegedly tossed into a tent by another U.S. soldier?

My thoughts and prayers are with Seifert's family and friends, particularly his wife and baby son.

Thank you for starting the memorial thread, OUlioness01.

I'll be praying for these soldiers' families and loved ones today. :(

It seems to me really sad that with a small number of casualities so far, such a disproportionate number of them are Fraternity men.

They, and all of our service people will be revered and greatly missed.

Re: May he rest in peace
 

That is correct. He was a Founding Father of his chapter. There are links to an article above, or on www.delts.org.

Excellent thread......

My thoughts and prayers are with every friend and family member of the fallen soldiers........and every soldier still overseas....

I dont know exactly what you mean by this...but I was getting a little tired of seeing new threads about so and so died from XYZ organization as if the deaths of average citizens are not as bad. My brother happens to be part of the 101st Airborne from Ft. Campbell and he is not greek so statements like that make my blood boil!!!!:mad: Would you rather it be someone elses brother or father!!! WTF!!! You need to have a little more consideration.

No, I didn't mean that at all, and am sorry you took it that way. I was simply struck by the fact that when the military was saying that we had 12 or so KIA's and three of them were fraternity members. It seems a disproportionate percentage given the relatively low numbers of GLO members as opposed to the general population.

I'm sorry you misunderstood my comment.

Eirene:

If anyone on this board is considerate, it's Delt Alum. I am sure he in no way meant any offense to anyone who has family in military.

And I thank God that your brother is safe after the grenade inccident, and I thank him, and all the military, for taking their duties so seriously. However, this is a greek board, so it does make sense that many people would notice if one of their fraternity brothers or sisters was injured or killed. Of course the other fatalities are equally sad and important. If you would like to keep a thread with a list of all fatalities, I know I would read it and say a prayer for those families as well. I'm sure others would do the same.

I wish your brother, and all our troops, a speedy and safe return.

If you would like to make a donation in Seifert's name I now have a mailing address for the Big Bro and Big Sisters of the Lehigh Valley

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Lehigh Valley, 33 N. 15th St., Allentown, Pa 18102.

Apparently, from a follow up article I read in the paper today, Seifert 'went the extra mile' in all he did in life, including continuing to stay in contact with his 'little brother' after he graduated from college.

DeltaAlum is only stating what has been on threads many times before when a member of any Greek Organization is killed in some unneccessary accident or what ever may have happened.

We are not saying that that Greeks are more important fighting this war. We as Greeks mourn Our Greek Brother/Sisters and also mourn the lose of any member of our armed forces.

I feel when I lose a Greek Member, I am losing a part of my self. But I feel I am losing a part of my self when WE as Americans Lose any Memeber of OUR PEOPLE WHO ARE THERE FIGHTING FOR US: You, Me and everymember of the GC SITE mean no disrespect to non-Greeks what so ever.

Remeber, the people on this Site are a very caring Group of people who go beyond just their little circle of people, they have a world of people who they can call on to be there in a time of need!

I have met only a small % of the folks here, but I consider them part of a little family and I hope you do too!

May your Brother and all of our men/women come home soon! I too have freinds who are there and it will not be nice!:(

Tom and Kathy,

Thanks, but I'm not offended by Eirene. She is obviously concerned for her brother and his fellow service people.

I understand that entirely, and certainly don't blame her.

I'm sorry she misunderstood my reason for comment.

I wish she and her brother only the best of luck in this most distressing time.

Thanks for the kind words Tom and Kathy. I get Deltalum's point...but maybe it came out the wrong way. I don't think any of us want to see our family, friends, and fellow citizens die in this war.

One of our sisters from my chapter (Theta Zeta) is stationed in Kuwait and we haven't heard from her in a while. I hope that she and everyone else with her is safe and healthy.

JUST A COMMON SOLDIER

He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion telling stories of his past
Of a war that he had fought in and the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies~~they were heroes, every one.
And tho' sometimes to his neighbours, his tales became a joke,
All his Legion buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke
But we'll hear his tales no longer, for old Bill has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer, for the soldier died today.
He won't be mourned by many, just his children and his wife,
For he lived an ordinary, quick and uneventful life

Held a job and raised a family,
quietly going his own way
And the world won't note his passing, tho' a soldier died today.
When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state
While thousands note their passing and proclaim that they were great,
Papers tell their life stories from the time that they were young,
But the passing of a soldier goes unnoticed and unsung.

In the greatest contribution to the welfare of our land
One guy breaks his promises and cons his fellow man
But the ordinary fellow, who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country and offers up his life.

A politician's stipend and the style in which he lives
Are sometimes disproportionate to the service that he gives
While the ordinary soldier who offered up his all
Is paid off with a medal and perhaps a pension small.

It's so easy to forget them, for it was so long ago
That the old Bills of our country went to battle, but we know
It was not the politicians, with their compromise and ploys
Who won for us the freedom that our country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger with your enemies at hand
Would you want a politician with his ever~shifting stand?
Or would you prefer a soldier who has sworn to defend
His home, his kin and country and would fight right to the end?

He was just a common soldier and his ranks are growing thin
But his presence should remind us we may need his likes again.
For when countries are in conflict then we find the soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.
If we cannot do him honour while he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage at the ending of his days
Perhaps just a simple headline in a paper that would say,
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING, FOR A SOLDIER DIED TODAY !!"

Thank you for starting this thread, OULioness

I don't really like this thread. It's kind of like we are keeping a tally on greeks that get killed in the war and that doesn't fly....

To touch on what someone else stated in this thread, if they are greek or not, they are still soldiers serving our country. I dunno, it just seems kind of wrong.

"Today, so and so, a so and so fraternity member from this university was killed." <------not cool (imo)

My prayers are with the Seifert family as well as the Stone family (see below). A second soldier died of his wounds from the same attack:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,82128,00.html

Although the thread seems incredibly morbid, I thank OULioness for starting it. It is a better way to keep track of those servicemen/women with greek ties.

damasa- i know it's morbid, but i started it because if i hadn't we would have had a new thread everytime a service man or woman in a greek organization died. this way we all check only if we want to, and thread titles won't let everyone know how many there are.

Lance Corpral David Fribley, Kappa Alpha Order, Indiana State University

I know that people are here debating whether or not we should be sharing our fellow Greeks who died and whether or not their lives are more important than those who aren't Greek. My opinion is that all lives are important. Perhaps the reason for sharing the deaths of the Greeks is that they are somewhat easier to find through the inter/national websites. If someone knows someone, whether they are Greek or not, who has died serving the country in this ongoing war, please let us know so that we can honor their lives as well. Perhaps we should start another thread of our loved ones who are deployed....

I feel like I should say something since I started the first thread on greek war deaths.... I did so to let other brothers know of the unfortuante death of a chapter's founding brother. Either it was here or someplace else that I think I saw something similar when 9-11 happened. I know it isn't the nicest thing to read and maybe it is only honoring greek soldiers but this IS a greek message board and that's what we normally talk about. I'm sorry if the whole thing offended people, I meant no disrespect towards other non-affiliated soldiers nor was I trying to start a thread for every greek killed in the war. I think the majority of us on the this board have a very high regard for those fighting for our country and know they are making a great risk for us all.

God bless them.

Your intentions were good, and I think the gesture is an honorable one. If anything, this thread reminds us to be thankful for our own lives and for the selflessness of men and women who are willing to put their lives on the line for us.

Thank you for your thoughtfulness. My prayers are with ALL the military...at home and abroad, Greek or otherwise.

Erica

We have 3 brothers from our chapter serving in Iraq. One who is a navy seal, one who is in the 1st Marine Expeditionary Unit, one air force air medic. We are definatly proud to have our brothers serving and that our chapter members play a huge part in operation Iraqi freedom. We miss seeing them in chapter every week but we know they are there for a good cause and will see them soon. Anyone else here have 3 or more chapter members serving in the Gulf????

All I have to say is THANK YOU! to all of the men and women serving during this scary time. You are the reason we can sleep a little easier at night. Greek or not, you are our heroes.

The argument over whether this thread is appropriate is so ridiculous that it would be laughable if not for the very serious subject matter.

Small towns around the country this week have held vigils and memorials for the men and women from those individual towns who were killed or captured.

Is this disrespectful to the dead and missing soldiers from OTHER towns? Should we write letters to the editor of their local newspapers and tell them to be more considerate? Good god, of course not.

We all feel the loss. And it's natural to feel a tougher loss for people you have something in common with - someone from your hometown, from your military unit, from your fraternity. So it's also quite natural, quite completely appropriate and in no way disrespectful that a community of greeks should pay particular attention to losses from our ranks.

I see nothing wrong with this thread whatsoever EXCEPT for the unprovoked attack against DeltAlum. Eirene, sorry to say it... but your lashing out at DeltAlum was completely inappropriate, even if understandable on some level. And though he isn't seeking it, I believe he's owed an apology.

wptw

Very sad :( I knew David and also know his brother and cousin..
:(

Then don't read it. It's that simple.


I, for one, appreciate this thread being started. Like someone else mentioned, we could always start a thread for loved ones and/or friends who are deployed or lost.

Excellent analogy.

No, actually it's not. I tend to read a lot of posts on these forums.
Almost a good observation though.....

The reason I said I didn't really like this thread (and that wasn't an attack against anyone) is because there are men and women fighting over there that aren't greek. Men and women that are dying that aren't greek or affiliated in any way.

I understand the whole thing about relating to these people because they are greeks. But there is a bigger picture. We relate to these men and women because they are Americans, like many of us on the boards. Men and women that are dying for our country. Some are greek and some not. Some are scholars and some are just the "average joe."

If we are paying tribute to those that are dying over there, let us do it FOR ALL of the men and women that are dying, not just those that are members of a glo. (Yes, I know people have been doing that and I applaud that.)

There, I hope that helped clear it up a bit, it's a little deeper than simply not reading it.

We received word yesterday, that a student from SIUE who was serving in the Marine reserves was killed in Iraq yesterday. He wasn't Greek, but a lot of my students knew him and said he was a great guy. It feels really wierd when something like this finally hits at home.