PHILLIPS, ELBERT AUSTIN
Name: Elbert Austin Phillips Branch/Rank: United States Air Force/E6 Unit: Date of Birth: 04 May 1934 Home City of Record: HUNTSVILLE AL Date of Loss: 28 August 1968 Country of Loss: LAOS Loss Coordinates: 175744 North 1023531 East Status (in 1973): Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered Category: 3 Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: T28 Missions: Other Personnel in Incident: Robert Miller, KIA/BNR Refno: 1266
Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews and CACCF = Combined Action Combat Casualty File.
REMARKS:
CACCF/CRASH/NON-AIRCREW/16 YRS UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
No further information available at this time.
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To Joseph C. Mosher or anyone
who might have an interest in my father, TSgt Elbert "Bert" Austin Phillips. I have just come upon this website and found an email dated May 9, 1998 from then TSgt Joseph C. Mosher AF recruiter. Mr. Mosher has worn my dad's bracelet and expressed his thoughts and concern for my family. I have just returned from Washington, DC attending the Government Briefings regarding POW/MIA's. It is the first that has been attended by my family and I must say it was very informative. I am thankful for the continued efforts that our government is putting forth in order to recovery missing servicemembers, my father included. He is one of 1833 still unaccounted for. I was eight when my dad, an AF Medic stationed at Udorn AFB in Thailand, was declared KIA on August 28,1968. My mother raised 6 children alone with only the help of the memories she had of her true love and the help from our loving God who sustained her through the years. I am learning more and more about my father's mission in Laos and his demise. There are still so many questions unanswered so I ask that if anyone who reads this, served with my father or has any information on the T28 he was in that downed in the Mekong river on that date, to please contact me. He was a back seater in the T28 with pilot Maj. Robert Charles Miller of Hayward, CA. who has never been recovered. We have just learned that President Bush will schedule a visit to VietNam in 2006. We hope that these meetings will create a realtionship that is conducive to bringing of servicemen home. On behalf of my 3 sisters and 2 brothers I thank you for your continued support and prayers. My mother just passed away on August 11, 2004 from a brief battle with cancer. I asked her, on what would have been their 49th wedding anniversary June 29 2004 what she thought her life would have been like if daddy had come back...I could hear in her voice the love she still held for him after 36 years. She was an exceptional person and an awesome mother who played dual roles and supported each of us in all we did. The only thing that helps me accept her death is that they are together forever now. A love story that continues... May we never forget... I love you daddy!
Please contact me at:
teresaschmitt@comcast.net teresa_schmitt@countrywide.com
256-533-8618 w 256-651-6574 c
Sincerely, Teresa Phillips Schmitt