Brother Ron Montapert was having fun with his Alpha Upsilon chapter mates like Tom Selleck, mugging for photos with the guys at an Alpha Delta Pi sorority party and surfing the Southern California waves. Months later, he was in Vietnam.

Second Lieutenant Montapert had been in the war zone just 46 days. The Alpha Upsilon Sig is the only known chapter mate to have lost his life in that conflict. It is one too many.

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Ron had graduated in 1967 before enlisting in the military. The 25-year-old quickly became an Infantry Unit Commander when his men drew fire in Kien Hoa Province on April 15, 1969. A blast near Ron caused “multiple fragment wounds,” the records say, and killed him. His body was recovered, returned to the U.S., and eventually buried in Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California. Ron’s name was engraved on the wall of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.

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“I’ve been to the Wall twice,” wrote chapter mate Phil Gustavson, an Air Force Captain who also served during the Vietnam era. Phil left a poignant online inscription for Ron on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial remembrance website. “You’re the only one I’ve found that I know—a Sigma Chi brother at USC. God Bless You, Ron. I’m sorry it took so long for me to say it.” In an interview with Phil more than 20 years after he wrote that “so long” to his brother, he reflects more fully on Ron during their time in the chapter house. “He was a solid citizen. A good upstanding guy, had his head on. Learning of his big brother’s death makes me sad and melancholy. That whole time period was an emotional period for all of us.”

 

Brother Selleck served in the California National Guard from 1967 to 1973. Selleck not only became a giant Hollywood star but also the national spokesperson for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. In 2008, as cameras whirled, Selleck visited the Memorial wall and slowly touched Ron’s engraved name, thought about the good times at the chapter house, and had a final quiet moment with his Alpha Upsilon brother.

 

Ron Montapert’s unit was D Company, 3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, U.S. Army. He was born June 9, 1943. All honor to his name.