LOOK BACK KAPPA HISTORY
From left: Lt. Earl B. Dickerson (second from left) and 1st Lt. Elder W. Diggs (far right) at Fort Des Moines with KA Ψ ‘War Chapter’ members. Atty. S. Joe Brown, Iowa Prince Hall Grand Master and member of KA Ψ.
but lost the rank of 1st Lieutenant to 2nd Lieutenant. The majority of the men remained, and many of them received their commissions and were sent to one of seven camps of the 92nd Division of the American Expedition- ary Forces. Founder Diggs and Earl B. Dickerson were among those who were assigned to this combat unit and fought overseas in France. KAPPA ALPHA PSI Many of the men who enlisted at Fort Des Moines were college graduates and members of the four existing fraternities. Their fraternal bonds were strengthened by their common ties of military service. At least 43 Kappa Alpha Psi members at Fort Des Moines represented every chapter in existence at that time. Twenty-seven of them were granted commissions. Founder and 1st Grand Polemarch Elder W. Diggs and (future 5th Grand Polemarch) Earl B. Dicker- son were in that number. At this camp, a temporary ‘War Chapter’ was formed by Grand Polemarch Diggs, and seven men were
initiated into this chapter in the Ordi- nance Building at Fort Des Moines. Those men included: Capt. Lee J. Hicks, 2nd Lt. Lucien P. Garrett, James Owens, Wilbur Darnell, William H. J. Beckett, and two others. Following the war, these men joined active chapters. Several other men at the camp were initiated into the Fraternity after the war. ALPHA PHI ALPHA Fifty-eight mem- bers enlisted, 32 received commissions, with four as captains and 90% of the remainder as lieutenants. Alpha Phi Alpha had the largest delegation of Fort Des Moines enlistees. OMEGA PSI PHI Sixteen members enlisted, ten initiated at Omega’s War Chapter at Fort Des Moines, twenty-four of twenty-six received commissions: five as captains, thirteen 1st Lieutenants, five 2nd Lieuten- ants, and one Chaplain. Two Omega Founders, 1st Lt. Frank Coleman and Chaplain Edgar A. Love, were among the members who were granted com- missions at Fort Des Moines.
PHI BETA SIGMA Twenty-eight members enlisted, and twenty-two members received commissions. Among them were Major Milton Dean, who was commissioned a Captain after his training at Fort Des Moines, the 3rd highest Black officer in WWI, and 1st Lt. Thomas M. Gregory, who led the Central Committee of Negro Col- lege Men, which garnered the qualified men for the camp. PRINCE HALL FREEMASONRY Over 100 of the Fort Des Moines cadets were Prince Hall Masons, representing more than 20 states from across the country. Many of them were not only bonded by their oath to serve the country, but also by their ties of Masonic brother- hood, and some were affiliated with historically Black Greek collegiate fraternities. The following list presents a few of the Fort Des Moines cadets who were Prince Hall Masons and fraternity members at the time of training (this list is not all-inclusive):
• Atty. S. Joe Brown, North Star Lodge #2, 16th Grand Master
76 THE JOURNAL ♦ SUMMER 2025
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