Interview with William H. Phillips, Vietnam War veteran. CCSU Veterans History Project

Interview conducted by Eileen Hurst. William Phillips joined the U.S. Army in 1963 at the age of 18, with the goal of having a career in the military. He attended basic training at Fort Jackson, SC which lasted for 12 weeks. He then went to Fort Gordon, GA for Advanced Infantry Training and upon his graduation he went immediately to Jump School. Jump School consisted mainly of practicing jumps and techniques. He also went to Ranger School and Special Warfare School before going over to Vietnam. In these schools he learned techniques in communications and intelligence gathering, along with other Special Forces skills. He was part of the 5th Special Forces Group with a base in Danang, however much of his time was spent as part of small team of both Americans and Vietnamese soldiers that ran reconnaissance missions in Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and up and down the Ho Chi Minh Trail, as part of the Special Operations Group. His first assignment on this team was as a radio man, and then after six to seven missions he was made team leader. Phillips describes what the missions were like, what their basic objectives were, and the outcome of some of those missions. After a year in Vietnam, he was transferred to the 8th Special Forces in Panama, where the duties of the Special Forces team were more typical than they had been in Vietnam. There he was part of teams that would go into South America and teach indigenous people warfare techniques among other assignments. After a year in Panama, Phillips volunteered for an additional year of service in Vietnam. He was sent back to the same unit, and assigned the same sort of missions, although he notes that the Tet Offensive changed the missions somewhat. His unit was very a dangerous unit to be a part of, they had a 130% casualty rate, 20% were killed in action, and Phillips himself was wounded five times. He again volunteered for a third tour in Vietnam, and he did not return to the United States until 1970. Although he had intended to make a career in the military, he instead decided to leave so that he could marry. He was discharged in 1971, and went to college on the GI Bill. Phillips also discusses daily life and the PTSD that he suffered from.