Unbroken

Russell Allen Phillips, known as Phil, is Louie’s companion throughout his war experiences. Phil is an Indiana native who trains to be a military pilot. He first meets Louie at a training base in Washington state. They become crewmates and close friends. Phil is well respected for his character and for his piloting skills. Louie, Phil, and other crewmates name their original B-24 Super Man. The Super Man crew heads to Hawaii to await orders. Later, Phil and Louie are both members of the Green Hornet crew that suffers an anticipated crash. Phil and Louie then endure the long raft journey together, even as their companion, Mac, dies on that journey. They help each other survive. Along with Louie, Phil is captured and treated horribly at Kwajalein. He is next taken to the Ofuna POW camp, along with Louie. There, he is subject to more extreme physical and emotional maltreatment and abuse. He is taken to Zentsuji POW camp and does not communicate with Louie for a long period of time. When the war ends and he and other prisoners are rescued from that camp, he returns home to Indiana, where he soon weds his dedicated girlfriend, Cecy Perry Phillips. They go on to become parents to two children, and both become teachers. Unlike Louie, Phil does not speak much about his wartime experiences, and he is portrayed as a minor character in Louie’s story. Only at the end of his life, in 1998, does he speak openly of his own war experiences.