March 3Mar 3 #1 Corporal Henry S. Phillips: a rifleman with four days of combat and 577 days as a prisoner of war. His full story here: https://www.36thdivisionarchive.com/pa-36-phillips 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘏𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘺’𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘏𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯, 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰. 𝘐𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢 36𝘵𝘩-𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘖𝘞 𝘵𝘢𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘏𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘳. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘨, 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘨 𝘐𝘐-𝘉, 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘈𝘯 82𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘚𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 400 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘨 𝘵𝘢𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘵, 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘏𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘖𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘖𝘞 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘭, 𝘊𝘐𝘉, 𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘢. Henry grew up as a messianic Jew in the along the Delaware River in Nether Providence, Pennsylvania. He went to college and got involved in his community as a Boy Scout leader and Sunday school teacher. It was during this period he was drafted in June of 1942. After basic, he joined E Company, 2nd Battalion, 143rd Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division as a scout while the division was stationed at Camp Edwards. Here he married his wife and underwent more training before shipping to Africa with the 36th in April of 1943. On September 9, 1943, Henry landed alongside the rest of the division during the invasion of Salerno. His battalion landed on Red Beach and faced withering German machine gun and artillery fire, slowly working through the day to secure some sort of beachhead. Over the next three days, 2nd Battalion went up and down the division sector supporting the flanks while fighting intensified around Altavilla. On September 12, the battalion was ordered to take up positions in a hedgerow-ladened flatland between the Sele and Calore Rivers, near Persano, to hold a gap between the 36th and 45th Divisions. It was initially quiet but patrols found they had no support on either flank. In the afternoon of September 13, the rumbling of engines filled the air as dozens of German Panzer IVs were spotted across the river. Within a couple hours, the battalion was trapped between two large forces of Panzers, half tracks, and infantry. With only a handful of anti-tank guns and M7 Priests for support, the battalion was quickly overrun and demolished. Men were cut into small pockets with nothing more than their rifles and grenades to defend themselves. While some got away, the battalion suffered 500 casualties, including over 400 captured. Henry was among those captured. He and the others began making their way through Italy and eventually aboard a train all the way to northern Poland, where he was admitted to German imprisonment at Stalag II-B. Known as one of the more brutal POW camps for Americans early on, Henry and other POWs at II-B were sent to perform forced labor in rural farms where guards performed brutal beatings often. Several Americans were killed during the first months Henry was there. After 15 months, he and the other prisoners were put onto a forced march through the winter of 1945, traveling hundreds of miles with little to no food as the Germans took them further from the Allied lines. Luckily, Henry survived. It appears that on April 12, 1945, Henry was liberated, making it back to the United States and his long-waiting family in mid-May. He was formally discharged that November. Henry went on to serve as a public school history teacher and guidance counselor, impacting his community through a life of service both overseas and at home.
(1).thumb.jpg.d18e8b8c77ca0637391719b69c739068.jpg)
Create an account or sign in to comment