Philip Salois was born  November 22, 1948. He grew up in Rhode Island in his early years, followed by a family move to southern California, where he enjoyed the idyllic life of 1950s America – even against the backdrop of the Cold War.  After high school Philip briefly attended college, but it was not for him, so he moved out and got a job – and he received his draft notice in 1966.  By 1967 he had deployed to Vietnam, where he was assigned to the 199th Light Infantry Brigade.   He was quickly inserted into front line combat, where he saw several comrades killed and wounded when a mine exploded.  Those terrible sights became commonplace as Philip and the other men of the 199th took on the Vietcong and the NVA.  On March 1, 1970 Philip experienced what he calls his “alive day”:  his unit was ambushed while out on a patrol, taking casualties.  Some of the men were cut off and on their own, and Philip and Herb Klug summoned the courage to go out to retrieve them, an action which cost Herb his life and which earned Philip the Silver Star. Coming home was difficult, as Philip came to terms with his PTSD in subsequent decades.  He became an ordained priest during that time, and his healing was helped along by a visit to Herb’s parents and by his involvement in the Vietnamese community – he in fact helped bring a family to the US.  He has since remained dedicated to veterans’ causes, all topics which Crestwood students were fortunate to hear about in a zoom interview in May 2025.