THE FIGHTING ΣΑΣ
ΣΑΣ wants to dedicate this website to THE FIGHTING ΣΑΣ ensuring that all the gentleman of Sigma Alpha Sigma’s
accomplishments and sacrifices do not go unrecognized and remembered forever. God bless The Fighting ΣΑΣ
Meet The Fighting ΣΑΣ
The late Dr. Downs did an excellent job researching all the Ouachita Baptist University’s fallen heroes of World War II. In his book, The Fighting Tigers, he goes into detail of the brave young ΣΑΣ brothers that gave the ultimate sacrifice. We want to dedicate this website to these men. Click to see the memorial at OBU.
Capt. Virgil Benson
1938-1940 ΣΑΣ Member
“On March 9th, 1945,” his wife Frances wrote, “his plane disappeared with nine men on board during a flight from Hollandia to Biabe, New Guinea. He was declared missing. At the end of the war they declared him dead.”
Virgile Bension was the first man mentioned in Dr. Downs book The Fighting Tigers.
Maj. George S Grant
1936-1939 ΣΑΣ Member
“As the plane carried Grant’s men to the assigned drop zone, Staff Sgt. William Pauli, who was the message-center chief of the 3rd Battalion at the time, described what happened next. Col. Wolverton was in the door and grumbling as he knew we were not on our Drop Zone. It was a shock to see how light it was, with the enemy flares illuminating the countryside… All the occupants of (the) plane were destined to be killed or captured as the men were dropped over (St. Come-de-Mont) half mile southwest of Drop Zone “D” in fields heavily fortified by German troops who had been preparing a defense line in the area. Col. Wolverton… was killed on the drop.
As the paratroopers approached the area from the west in their low-flying troop-most of the D-Day jumps (were) made from about 400 feet-and from planes that failed to slow to the normal drop speed… the Germans lighted a house which had been doused with kerosene. The holocaust illuminated the entire area… On the ground, a small group of (American) pathfinders (paratroopers dropped earlier to assist in directing the troop carriers to their assigned drop zones) watched helplessly as the silently-dropping men- including Major Grant and his commander, Lt. Col. Wolverton- were picked off my machine gun and rifle fire as they entered the circle of light.”
Lt. John Milton Hall
1940-1943 ΣΑΣ Member
“Jeral Hampton, Class of 1943, of Clarksville, Arkansas, a classmate, one of Johnny’s closest friends, and a former member and chairman of the OBU Board of Trustees, Provided the following account of his friendship with Johnny that followed them into the beaches of Normandy:
Lt. John Milton (Johnny) Hall and I entered Ouachita Baptist College in 1939 and graduated in 1943. Johnny and I had many classes together at Ouachita, and Entered Officer Candidate Training at Fort Benning, Georgia, as graduates of the Ouachita R.O.T.C. We were also members of the Sigma Alpha Sigma social club at Ouachita.
The spelling of Hall and Hampton placed us in adjoining beds in Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia, which made our friendship even stronger. It was most unusual for buddies to be assigned to the same military unit, but johnny and I were assigned to the83rd Infantry Division upon graduating from O.C.S. and were also assigned to the same company with Johnny as platoon leader of the Second Platoon and I as platoon leader of the Third Platoon.
While Stationed at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky, we married Ouachita girls and lived for a short period in a small town in Kentucky. In the spring of 1944, our division moved to England in preparation for the invasion of France.
In June 1944, our division replaced the 101st Airborne Division in Normandy, and on July 4, 1944, joined with other American troops in the offensive as we attempted to move the Germans out of France. About mid-day on July 4, Johnn and I crawled to each other so as to plan for our hopeful movement forward (our platoons were side by side in the attack). A very short time later, I received a message that Johnny had been killed by a direct German mortar shell. During the same period of time, I lost about half of my platoon by death or being wounded.
Needless to say, this was one of the big shocks of my life. Johnny was one of the best friends I have ever had. We played together, we studied and attended classes together, we fought for our country together. He was a great Ouachitonian and a great American.”
2nd Lt. John Franklin Reed Jr.
1938-1941 ΣΑΣ Member
“In an interview a few months before her death in 2002, Rosemary R. Hamner, Franks’s sister who was living in Monroe, Louisiana, said he was killed in an aircraft accident on April 10,1943. “He was teaching pilots how to fly in formation,” she said. “The plans had been grounded for a month because of fears of sabotage. But in this case, he and another pilot were working with the others of formation flying when his plane suddenly lost all of its fuel. He radioed his partner to say that because planes were so scarce at the time, he was going to stay with the plane to save it. His partner reported later that he saw Reed’s plane go into a slow spiral from a high altitude. Rather than jump, however, Reed evidently chose to stay with the plane until the last minute, but he waited too late. When he jumped, his plane was at treetop level, and his chute never opened.
Lynn Jones, Mrs. Hamner’s daughter, pointed out that Frand “remained in his plane to steer it away from a residential area. His chute did open, and was caught in a tree. But when he dropped to the ground, he fell on a tree stump breaking his back and dying. Before medical help could reach him, someone had stripped him of all his valuables.” Ath the time of his death, he was stationed at Westover Field, Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts.”
