WWII vet George Phillips shares stories of his life

AMENIA— With blue skies above, residents of Amenia visited to Amenia Town Hall on Sunday, April 23, to learn about the extraordinary life of local World War II hero George Phillips.

On display was a table of memorabilia from Phillips’ days as a soldier and businessman. Priced at $2 per program, visitors were also invited to purchase a copy of “Stories of My Life,” by George Phillips. 

They were welcomed to the talk by Amenia Historical Society President Julian Strauss.

“It’s a great honor to have George come here to talk about his experiences as a young man in Amenia, as a soldier and as a current resident of Amenia,” said Strauss, who also introduced Bill Jeffway, a member of the Dutchess County Historical Society. 

To begin the presentation, Phillips held up a copy of his book and said that he should have written it 70 years ago rather than recently.

“I wrote it to give my family, my children and my grandchildren as a story of what I did,” Phillips said as the audience nodded in understanding.

Phillips narrated the story of his father, Royal C. Phillips, who had left school during the fourth grade to sell newspapers on the street to help his mother after his father was killed on the New York Central Railroad. In spite of his frequent illnesses, Phillips’ father eventually became the owner of two grocery stores and a bakery in Yonkers, and later owned a 200-acre farm in Pleasant Valley. 

When Phillips was 6 months old, in March of 1926, his parents moved to Amenia. His father purchased a general store located across from the railroad station. A photograph of the Depot Store from the 1930s appeared on the screen.

During his childhood, Phillips said farmers were mostly self-sufficient. While his father’s store didn’t have fresh vegetables or canned foods at the time, in the spring, summer and fall, Phillips said that he often drove with his father in a truck to Poughkeepsie to get groceries at the farmers market. 

He recollected his father keeping a coop of chickens in the backyard.

“If you wanted a chicken for dinner, we would grab one, chop its head off and sell it like that,” said Phillips. “When Pop needed more chickens, he’d go to Fell’s auction in Poughkeepsie and bring home a couple of crates more.”

Coinciding with Phillips’ birthday, the Depot Store caught fire on Sept. 13, 1935. Business was temporarily run out of a barn on the rear of the property while the store was rebuilt.

Phillips attended the Amenia School, built in 1929. As a photograph of Phillips’ graduating class was displayed on screen, the audience reacted, recognizing familiar faces from the Amenia School Class of 1943. 

Amid his anecdotes, Phillips spoke of Prohibition, and that children would walk three miles to school. 

 With a nod to the traumas of World War II, Strauss displayed a 1938 photo of a parade taking place in Amenia before comparing the image to a photo from the same year of the 87th Infantry Division on “a different sort of march”.

As Phillips began to recall his memories as a soldier in the Golden Acorn Infantry Division, the presentation displayed a map of the division’s route through France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany and Czechoslovakia during the Battle of the Bulge. 

After looking up at the screen at a photo entitled “Taps Played at Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial,” Phillips remembered an incident in Germany when he narrowly escaped death  while a fellow soldier was killed behind him.

As he went over his memories, there were times Phillips seemed surprised by what he was able to recall.

“We couldn’t keep a diary,” he explained. “If you got captured, you’d have information for the enemy.”

Following his return home from military duty, Phillips opened up the Edgewood on Sharon Road, a restaurant that was described as “the place to go” by Strauss.

“We wish we had it still,” said a woman in the audience; others voiced their agreement.

Strauss brought up a copy of an advertisement for Phillips’ contracting business. “Stop Throwing Money Out the Window.” Members of the audience smiled as they remembered Phillips as their “Authorized Reynolds Renovator.”