Memorial Day and Lambda Chi Alpha
 

With Memorial Day coming this weekend, I began wondering how Lambda Chi Alpha honors the brothers that served in the military.

Is there a special position or fund that is used to aid brothers of LXA or their families that are away on duty, or have been injured or killed in the line of duty?

Is there some sort of special ceremony or monument that we have dedicated to those brothers that chose to serve this country?

What do we do as a fraternity to honor our veterans?

We have a strong military history in our fraternity and I wanted to know what we do to honor that.

I'm not aware of anything special that is done to memorialize those Brothers who have been killed on active duty. Individual chapters may have something but I've not heard of the Fraternity itself doing anything. An obit in the C&C but that's about it.

That's really too bad to hear. We have such a long tradition of military service in our fraternity.

Maybe we can start something to add a piece to our ritual to remember the fallen, or maybe erect a shrine at HQ?

GammaZeta, that is an excellent point as we have had many of our Brothers who were killed or are famouse from our military Brethern or those who have become famous.:

Harry S Truman, Jimmy Doolittle, and Greg "Pappy" Boyington to name a few.

We of LX Z have been fortunate as none of our Brothers ahve been lost.

Have a safe Memorial Day and think of all our Brothers in harms way.

I'm Epsilon-Xi # 937 from Florida Southern College.

Epsilon-Xi #938 is Charlie Rubado. He was in my class, as we both joined in Spring of 2001 (along with 7 other guys). His awesome wife (now remarried) was one of my chapter's sweethearts. He was a great buddy, and served as High Beta (among other things). He was killed on August 29, 2005 in Tal Afar, Iraq when his Abrams Tank came under small arms fire. I always think of him, especially when Memorial Day rolls around. Here are some ways he has been remembered (not just by LCA):

There's a bunch of websites and newspaper clippings that tell his story (such as this one):
http://www.militarycity.com/valor/1073171.html

He was a member of the school's ROTC program, and now they host an annual golf tournament, and there's also a Scholarship Fund, in his name.

LCA Headquarters sent a flower arrangement to his funeral service (maybe because I was on staff at the time and chose to visit a struggling Zeta instead of flying home for his memorial service).

I believe there was a mention of him in the Cross and Crescent, but I can't find it now.

There is a "reflection bench" and plaque in his honor on our campus, and was designated as such during a memorial service just after his death.

There is a memorial table at the chapter house with his story and a photo in the chapter meeting room.

And, of course, we'll always have our stories and thoughts of him during our reunions and in our quiet moments.

I'm not sure if Headquarters has a shrine (or even a list) of the members that have been lost in war (or those that served). I think it would be difficult to generate that list, and some families might not want that to be created for their loved one. I don't know if the fraternity would actually create that kind of memorial structure at the national level. I'm not saying I personally oppose it...I think it's a good idea. I just don't see it happening unless someone were to volunteer to do the work to create it. Yes, patriotism is one of the four values represented in the Associate Member ceremony, and fervor for country is discussed, but that specific project (I'm guessing) is a bit too time-demanding for the staff of our Office of Administration. You could try asking them, though. Happy Memorial Day, Chuck.

Yours in Z A X ,

Some GLOs place a great emphasis on their alumni/members who are military veterans. The Delts have a small room off of their IHQ lobby which features uniforms/regalia from members who've fought in wars dating back to the 1800's. Pretty cool stuff...

I checked out the Eta Tau Chapter of Sigma Nu site that was posted the other day. They had photos of brothers in combat. I didn't know they were founded by 3 VMI cadets.

I wonder if they locally or nationally do anything for Memorial Day.