Three military metal identification tags worn by an American soldier

John Pines Phillips was born on June 28, 1924, in Anson, North Carolina, to Walter Binyon (Bun) and Sallie Gilmore Phillips. He had eleven siblings. His father Bun was a carpenter. John was a salvage inspector. On December 8, 1941, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States entered World War II. On May 7, 1945, Germany surrendered, but the US was still at war with Japan. On June 29, 1945, John was inducted into the United States Army. He trained at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Camp Pickett, Virginia, and qualified as an M1 rifle marksman. On September 2, 1945, Japan surrendered, ending World War II. On January 27, 1946, John was discharged from the wartime draft force and re-enlisted in the regular army. John was sent to Europe on April 1 as part of the Army of Occupation. He was stationed in Germany and Austria. He served as a private first class with the 222nd Infantry Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division. The 42nd was inactivated in June and John was transferred to Cannon Company, 5th Infantry Division. The 5th was inactivated in November and John was moved to F Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. On January 3, 1947, John returned to the US. He was discharged on January 24 and returned to North Carolina. On August 2, John married Louise Abernathy (1922-2008). They had two sons. John worked at Phillips Construction. John, age 86, died on February 22, 2011, in North Carolina.

The dog tags were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2013 by Cristy L. Phillips, the granddaughter of John Phillips.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Cristy L. Phillips

Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.