World War I Veteran & First Secretary of the Illinois Alpha chapter of the Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp) Fraternity at University of Illinois, First Lieutenant Louis Phillis, U.S. Army Air Service was killed in an accident in Tours, France. Louis was reportedly the first brother of the chapter to cross the Atlantic to “fight the Kaiser.” Unfortunately, he was also the first brother of that chapter to be killed during WWI.
At the time of his death, Louis was serving in the 95th Aero Squadron that also included Quentin Roosevelt, son of former president Theodore Roosevelt, and commanded by fellow SigEp Patriot - Pennsylvania Epsilon Brother Captain David Peterson.∼For the first time in many weeks the casualty list contained the name of a Chicago aviator -- that of Lieut. Louis I. Phillis, a son of Mr. and Mrs. H. W. Phillis of 1435 East Sixty-fourth street. Mr. Phillis previously had notified THE TRIBUNE of his son's death, which occurred in an aviation instruction camp at Tours, France. No details have been received. The day before he was killed he wrote a letter, which has just been received.
"O, ours is the best' little army of fighters in the world and they are all beginning to acknowledge it," he wrote. "I mean the French and British. Wait till we get a real army up there!"
Lieut. Phillis was 22 years old and enlisted in the unit of which Quentin Roosevelt was a member. Prior to the war he finished a three years mechanical engineering course at the University of Illinois. He was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. His father has been an employe of the baggage and mail department of the Illinois Central railroad for twenty-eight years.
Chicago Tribune (IL) - August 27, 1918
At the time of his death, Louis was serving in the 95th Aero Squadron that also included Quentin Roosevelt, son of former president Theodore Roosevelt, and commanded by fellow SigEp Patriot - Pennsylvania Epsilon Brother Captain David Peterson.∼For the first time in many weeks the casualty list contained the name of a Chicago aviator -- that of Lieut. Louis I. Phillis, a son of Mr. and Mrs. H. W. Phillis of 1435 East Sixty-fourth street. Mr. Phillis previously had notified THE TRIBUNE of his son's death, which occurred in an aviation instruction camp at Tours, France. No details have been received. The day before he was killed he wrote a letter, which has just been received.
"O, ours is the best' little army of fighters in the world and they are all beginning to acknowledge it," he wrote. "I mean the French and British. Wait till we get a real army up there!"
Lieut. Phillis was 22 years old and enlisted in the unit of which Quentin Roosevelt was a member. Prior to the war he finished a three years mechanical engineering course at the University of Illinois. He was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. His father has been an employe of the baggage and mail department of the Illinois Central railroad for twenty-eight years.
Chicago Tribune (IL) - August 27, 1918
World War I Veteran & First Secretary of the Illinois Alpha chapter of the Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp) Fraternity at University of Illinois, First Lieutenant Louis Phillis, U.S. Army Air Service was killed in an accident in Tours, France. Louis was reportedly the first brother of the chapter to cross the Atlantic to “fight the Kaiser.” Unfortunately, he was also the first brother of that chapter to be killed during WWI.
At the time of his death, Louis was serving in the 95th Aero Squadron that also included Quentin Roosevelt, son of former president Theodore Roosevelt, and commanded by fellow SigEp Patriot - Pennsylvania Epsilon Brother Captain David Peterson.∼For the first time in many weeks the casualty list contained the name of a Chicago aviator -- that of Lieut. Louis I. Phillis, a son of Mr. and Mrs. H. W. Phillis of 1435 East Sixty-fourth street. Mr. Phillis previously had notified THE TRIBUNE of his son's death, which occurred in an aviation instruction camp at Tours, France. No details have been received. The day before he was killed he wrote a letter, which has just been received.
"O, ours is the best' little army of fighters in the world and they are all beginning to acknowledge it," he wrote. "I mean the French and British. Wait till we get a real army up there!"
Lieut. Phillis was 22 years old and enlisted in the unit of which Quentin Roosevelt was a member. Prior to the war he finished a three years mechanical engineering course at the University of Illinois. He was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. His father has been an employe of the baggage and mail department of the Illinois Central railroad for twenty-eight years.
Chicago Tribune (IL) - August 27, 1918
At the time of his death, Louis was serving in the 95th Aero Squadron that also included Quentin Roosevelt, son of former president Theodore Roosevelt, and commanded by fellow SigEp Patriot - Pennsylvania Epsilon Brother Captain David Peterson.∼For the first time in many weeks the casualty list contained the name of a Chicago aviator -- that of Lieut. Louis I. Phillis, a son of Mr. and Mrs. H. W. Phillis of 1435 East Sixty-fourth street. Mr. Phillis previously had notified THE TRIBUNE of his son's death, which occurred in an aviation instruction camp at Tours, France. No details have been received. The day before he was killed he wrote a letter, which has just been received.
"O, ours is the best' little army of fighters in the world and they are all beginning to acknowledge it," he wrote. "I mean the French and British. Wait till we get a real army up there!"
Lieut. Phillis was 22 years old and enlisted in the unit of which Quentin Roosevelt was a member. Prior to the war he finished a three years mechanical engineering course at the University of Illinois. He was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. His father has been an employe of the baggage and mail department of the Illinois Central railroad for twenty-eight years.
Chicago Tribune (IL) - August 27, 1918
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
