Lt russell allen phillips biography

LAPORTE, Ind. — A LaPorte schoolteacher couldn't stomach chicken ever again, but that was one of the few telltale signs that suggested what he had endured.

The late Russell Allen Phillips, a World War II pilot and longtime LaPorte resident, spent nearly two months eating raw albatrosses and seagulls that happened to land on a tiny life raft that was besieged by sharks, battered by a typhoon, and nearly sunk by a Zero plane's strafing machine gun.

Phillips, who was an educator in LaPorte for decades before dying in 1998, and bombardier Louis Zamperini, survived a number of combat missions, including one where nearly 600 rounds riddled their plane.

After a crash, they spent 47 days adrift in the ocean on a life raft with tail gunner Francis McNamara, who died on the 33rd day. After drifting more than 2,000 miles and washing up on the Marshall Islands, Phillips and Zamperini were captured by the Japanese and imprisoned for two years. Phillips withered down to around 80 pounds.

"He met (his wife) Cecy in Terre Haute before the war and they became engaged before he went off," longtime family friend Claudia Williams told The Times of Munster. "She knew his plane crashed, but always felt he was still alive. She just had that feeling."

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Their unbelievable but true-life tale hit movie theaters nationwide on Christmas.

Academy Award-winner Angelina Jolie directed "Unbroken," an adaptation of "Seabiscuit" author Laura Hillenbrand's New York Times No. 1 bestseller. Domhall Gleeson, the son of Golden Globe-nominated Irish actor Brendan Gleeson, plays Phillips in the movie.

"Unbroken" is the story of Zamperini, who was Phillips's best friend and bunkmate. The Southern California native — a long-distance runner known as the Torrance Tornado — ran in 1936 Olympics, did not let beatings and abuse break his will in the prison camp, later became a born-again Christian

Russell Phillips

First Lieutenant Russell "Phil" Phillips was a U.S Army Air Force officer. He served aboard the B-24, Green Hornet, along with Louis Zamperini.

Whilst on a mission, one of the engines failed and the aircraft ultimately crashed in the ocean. Louie survived alongside two others, Russell "Phil" Phillips and Francis "Mac" McNamara, floating on two inflatable rafts.

On their 27th day adrift, they attracted the attention of a Japanese fighter plane, which strafed and damaged the rafts but missed them. Mac died six days later. On the 47th day, Japanese sailors found and captured Louie and Phil. Now prisoners of war, Louie and Phil were imprisoned on Kwajalein Atoll. The American airmen were interrogated for info on newer bombers and the Norden bombsight.

After liberation he returned home and became a school teacher. He died on 18 December, 1998.

Notes[]

• He is a fictional portrayal of the real Russell Phillips. [1]

Phil, Louie’s closest friend both during and after World War II, is pretty much left as such through out Unbroken, but what is his story? Who is Russell Allen Phillips beyond a companion to Louie?

Pre-War

August 1, 1916 marked the beginning Phil’s life. Seeing that Phil didn’t start to go by that name until the military, as he moved from city to city in Indiana as a child, he went by “Allen”. Also growing up Phil’s household was extremely religious.

In 1934 Phil graduated from LaPorte High School, and finished all forms of school in 1940. While attending Purdue, Phil’s parents moved to Terre Haute which just happened to be where Cecile “Cecy” Perry had recently moved to with her family. Introduced by Phil’s younger sister, the two quickly fell for each other.

~MB

Air Corps

After Purdue, Phil decided to join the air corps despite his “unimpressive ROTC record”(Mike McCormick 1). He quickly discovered that he had a natural talent with planes. In November 1941, Phil was sent out for active duty. Being separated from Cecy proved something to Phil, he needed to marry this woman.So on May 1, 1942, Cecy’s 21st birthday, he told her just that and sent her a check to buy the engagement ring. Phil was fully prepared to marry Cecy as soon as possible, but that would have been at Ephrata, Washington which Phil saw as an unacceptable location for their wedding.

It just so happened that Ephrata was where Phil first met Louis Zamperini, who would be his bombardier. The two of them quickly became close friends. They, and the rest of the crew of “Super Man” made it through their fair share of sticky situations thanks to Phil’s skills as a pilot, but not everything is fair.

~CB

Stuck At Sea

On May 27, 1943, flying the “Green Hornet” over the Pacific Ocean, there were several system malfunctions and the plane went down. Phil, Louie, and a new

NASCAR driver

For the Canadian ice hockey player, see Russell Phillips (ice hockey).

Russell Lee Phillips (March 6, 1969 — October 6, 1995) was an American NASCAR Sportsman Division driver. He was killed in a crash at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1995.

Personal life

Phillips graduated from Independence High School in Charlotte in 1987 before working for his father's truck equipment company. After competing in short tracks across the Carolinas, he moved to NASCAR's Sportsman Division. He also worked as a fabricator, volunteer firefighter, and preacher. He also volunteered at a local racing school occasionally and was a devout Baptist, serving as the youth minister at his local church, serving as a mentor for many of the children there. He was nicknamed “Bubby” due to his large, intimidating stature. By all reports, he was an extremely kind man, sometimes referred to as a gentle giant.

He was married to Jennifer, a young woman he met on pit road in 1990 before one of his races while she was looking for autographs. They lived together in Mint Hill, North Carolina, and had no children.

Career

While little is known about his career, it is known that Phillips independently owned and drove the No. 57 car. Most of his career, he was a middle of the pack driver and hardly got attention from the media, but he started making a name for himself in 1995 with strong runs. His best finish was an 8th place finish in 1993. He received sponsorship from local companies such as Mullis Well Drilling, Quesco, and later in his career, Hendrix Office Machines.

Death

The 1995 Winston 100 at Charlotte was the 15th series start for Phillips, who entered the race having just won his first pole position after setting a lap speed of 157.444 miles per hour (253.382 km/h). Phillips led the first two laps of the race before falling back through the field.

The crash occurred on lap 17 of the 67-lap ev