01 JAN 1920
On this date, World War I Veteran and OH Gamma Brother Captain
Robert Lester Tavenner, U.S. Army was
awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) and Distinguished Service Medal
for his courageous actions while deployed to France & Belgium. The DSC is
the second highest military award presented to a member of the U.S. Army for
extreme gallantry and risk of life in actual combat with an armed enemy force. Brother
Tavenner is one of five SigEp Patriots to be awarded the DSC.03 JAN 1941
World War II Veteran and PA Xi Brother First Lieutenant Paul Harvey Cunningham, U.S. Army was sworn in on this date as a member of the Seventy-seventh Congress. Brother Cunningham served the people of Iowa’s 6th District until 1943 when he was elected to serve the 5th District.
31 DEC 1942
NC Epsilon Brother Charles
Henderson joined the U. S. Navy after graduation, and served 26 months
overseas before being discharged at the end of the war at the rank of Lieutenant.
01 JAN 1943
On this date, DC Alpha Brother Kenneth H. Brunner, U.S. Army entered the service and obtained the
rank of Captain and served on an "interesting duty" with the
Manhattan District in Tennessee, headquarters for the atomic bomb before being
discharged.
03 JAN 1943
Making the ultimate sacrifice on this date, World War II
Veteran and MI Alpha Brother First Lieutenant James L. Lee, U.S. Army was in action over Western Europe while
serving as co-pilot with the U.S. Army Air Corps 323rd Bomber Squadron, 91st
Bomber Group (Heavy). Brother Lee was MI Alpha’s first casualty of WWII.
A SigEp at MI Alpha between 1935 and 1937, Brother Lee
entered the service in the fall of 1941 after graduating from Carnegie
Institute of Technology at Pittsburgh. He received his preliminary training at
Maxwell Field, Montgomery, AL, and was later sent to Camden and Sumter, SC,
before receiving his silver wings and commission at Shaw Field, in the summer
of 1942.
His awards include the Purple Heart and Air Medal.
Brother Lee is memorialized at the Brittany American
Cemetery, St. James (Manche), France.
