Pi Kappa Phi

Here are some recollections of my Pi Kappa Phi days at ECU (ECC) and beyond. Too many memories to share them all, but I have broken them down into several time frames. 

First is my pledge “class” consisting of two. Dave Knoch, Beta Phi 14, and I, Beta Phi 13. Ours was the last class before our colony received its official charter; therefore, it was relatively short and did not include much hazing, as we all, especially those already initiated into the colony, were preoccupied with getting everything in order to receive our national Pi Kappa Phi charter in February of 1963. 

Next came fraternity life and fellowship, which was wonderful and always spiced with adventures and often comedy. Our fraternity always excelled academically and in intramural sports competitions. We had some very talented athletes, including Richard Scott, Everette Cameron, Freo Webster, and others. A number of us were on or had been members of the ECC varsity swim team, and at one intra-fraternity swim meet, we won every event!

We did not, in the early days, have a fraternity house, but did rent a “chapter room” over a furniture store, I think, which was thankfully closed evenings, so our parties there disturbed no one! We were soon able, with the help of our national office, to purchase a house at 1301 E 5th Street, which was just across the street from campus. This was in a fairly upscale residential neighborhood, and our neighbors had to be saints (or deaf) to tolerate the noise we made! But special things and times often end as did my college days in 1964.

A job in banking took me to Statesville, NC, in early 1965 and after my draft board indicated that they “have more recruits than they need” I married my college sweetheart and settled into work, But, as we learned LBJ and McNamara were not to be trusted and in 1964 as they fabricated an excuse for the US to attack the North Vietnamese and their allies in the south the Viet Cong it became apparent that I would likely be drafted. By then, the US already had ground troops in Vietnam, so I decided to join the Army and try to exert some control over my military enlistment. Being a college grad qualified me to join the Army as a college OP enlistee, and enrolling me in Officers Candidate School at Fort Gordon, GA. I assumed that all 100 of us who graduated in June of 1967 would be going to Vietnam, but I was assigned for a two-year tour in Okinawa! Better than Vietnam! This is where just about everything mentioned above comes full circle. The first evening after my arrival on Okinawa, I was strolling through streets and shops in a town close to my BOQ when a small green Honda sports car parks at the curb and one of my fraternity brothers, Mack Ramseur, gets out and, with a pretty lady, saunters into the little shop I was in. He had not seen me, so I walked up behind him and whispered, “What the heck are you doing here, Ramseur?” After he picked his chin off the floor, we hugged, he introduced me to his wife, and we started planning what to do the next day, which was snorkeling, I think. Mack was there as a civilian employee of the military. 

Soon after finding Mack, John Thompson showed up, also a 2nd Lieutenant like myself! Then, incredible as it seemed then and now, Bill Campbell, another Beta Phi brother, appears, working for our NSA facility there as an Air Force enlistee. So, halfway around the world, four Fraternity brothers were reunited! We all had our military duties, which we accomplished with distinction! We still had time for golf, snorkeling, visiting bars, enjoying the Officers' Clubs, and PX. What a way to fight the war! Many other Pi Kapps served in the Air Force, Marines, and Army. Tragically,  one brother, Charles “Chip” Butler, died while piloting a Marine helicopter on a rescue mission in central Vietnam. Considering how many Beta Phi brothers ended up in the military during the Vietnam War, we are truly blessed that, to the best of my knowledge, we had no other combat fatalities! 

After being discharged from the Army in the summer of ’69, I returned to my hometown of Greensboro and found a job in sales at a large commercial photography studio in High Point. I worked in sales for about 15 years at three companies, including a printing company, and, in 1990, along with a fellow employee, founded Albion Associates ( albioncreative.com ), providing still photography, video production, CGI, Digital imaging, and, more recently, AI. We started with three employees in 1990 and have grown to 50 plus now. In 2008, during the Great Recession, at the suggestion of several of our furniture manufacturer clients ( by then importers ), I traveled to and set up a small studio on the outskirts of Saigon, Vietnam, with three Vietnamese employees. That facility has grown to 30 employees, all Vietnamese, and to the credit of our manager and her staff, has proved very profitable while giving our company an international presence! I am very proud to have been able to establish a company there where all our Vietnamese staff have excellent wages, enhanced health care, benefits, and professional skill development. Considering how we, the US, left Vietnam in April of 1975, I think we owe them a lot of consideration and reward for their loyalty and wonderful work ethic! As a note of interest, Vietnam now manufactures and exports more furniture, $9.1 billion in 2024, to the US than any other country!

In summary, my life has been blessed is so many ways; the country we live in, family, college, fraternity, employees, military training and experience, employment opportunities, the success of my company. So many people,  especially fraternity and army friends to have bonded with and still visit and travel with on a regular basis!