Air Force commander from Niagara Falls looks to return plaque honoring Quincy POW

NIAGRA FALLS, N.Y. – Members of an Air Force reserve base in Niagara Falls, New York, are looking to return a recently discovered plaque to the family of a Vietnam-era veteran from Quincy.

Command Chief Master Sergeant Donald "Scott" Peters said he is on a mission to find the next of kin of Staff Sgt. Robert Phillips, a North Quincy native who served in Vietnam and was taken prisoner by enemy forces in the early 1970s.

While expanding the memorial garden on base in New York a few weeks ago, Peters said he and others found a plaque reading "The Freedom Tree... This tree is dedicated to PFC Robert Phillips and all Prisoners of War and Missing in Action 1973." They believe the plaque was originally placed at Lockport Air Force Station, a now-closed general surveillance radar station outside of Shawnee, New York.

"We discovered a rock by a tree, and by (attached to) that rock was a

nameplate where they did a plaque for (Staff Sgt. Phillips)," Peters said.

"We have no idea how it got (on base). It was just found by a tree in some

reeds (weeds)... We would love to find his family, to return the plaque to them, to honor him in some way. He was a POW, and we don't forget. Ever."

'Welcome home, my friend': Quincy honors native son who died in Vietnam 50 years ago

Gone, but not forgotten

Phillips' story is one that has come to light only recently, thanks to a former classmate who for decades held onto the memory of his childhood friend and worked to find what happened to him after he joined the military more than 50 years ago.

John Magnarelli, an Army veteran, brought the story of his high school friend and classmate "Bobby" to the attention of the Quincy mayor earlier this year. Last month, Phillips became the 50th name engraved on the city's Vietnam memorial clock tower in Marina Bay.

Magnarelli said he saw Phillips in April 1970 at an air base outside Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City.

"We caught up the best we could in the short time we had, and vowed to reconnect once he returned to Quincy," he said at the June ceremony. "A few months later, The Patriot Ledger reported that Bobby was MIA. Missing in action."

Three years later, when the United States left Vietnam and the prisoners of war came home, Magnarelli said he thought he'd find Phillips' name among them, but never did. In the mid-1990s, Magnarelli searched online for Phillips' name and found an official after action report, he said, "putting the pieces together" to  learn what happened to his friend.

As best as he can tell, Magnarelli said Phillips and two others were captured while delivering supplies to a base in Vietnam. He was moved around from one prisoner camp to another for months, his friend said, and attempted escape early in his captivity. More than a year and a half later, he did manage to escape before being recaptured and  possibly killed shortly after. The nonprofit POW Network reports Phillips may have been in Cambodia at the time of his death.

"His body was never recovered. And to this day, there is still no closure for his family and friends," Magnarelli said through tears.

Phillips was awarded the Prisoner of War Medal.

'A real loss for the community': Quincy's Good Health grocery store to close next month

South Shore As It Was: With 'irresistible hospitality,' Squantum was a summer destination for Quincy's elite

A mystery unfolds

Peters said he had just begun his research into Phillips' story when he came across a Patriot Ledger article about Phillips' inclusion on the Marina Bay wall. It filled in a few gaps, but questions still remain about the forgotten plaque.

On a web page run by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, dozens of people have commented on stories about Phillips and  expressed  gratitude for his service. One woman, who posted under the name Lisa Caruso, wrote in 2007, about the very same plaque Peters and his men found.

Her post reads:

"It was around 1973 when my mother handed me a copper bracelet reading, Pfc Robert P. Phillips. That same year, we planted a 'Freedom Tree" in his honor. The tree is at Lockport Air Station in New York state.

About five years later, I revisited the tree, the copper bracelet [sic] still wrapped around my wrist.

I've traded the copper for silver and he's been promoted to Sgt., but Robert "Bob" Paul Phillips remains in my heart and his bracelet rests beneath his photo given to me by his mother the day we planted the tree."

That's all she wrote, her words accompanied by a photo of a young woman and girl standing near a  newly planted tree, with an unidentifiable plaque in front.

There is no indication of if Caruso knew Phillips personally, why she planted a tree in his honor, if she is still in contact with the family or any other details. Peters said he's tried repeatedly to find her,  but to no avail.

He and others even drove to the former Lockport station to look for clues, but couldn't find the tree shown as a sapling in the photo posted by Caruso. Last week, Peters visited Washington D.C., where he searched the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall for Phillips' name.

"We were devastated to just find this on our base with weeds around it," Peters said. "We have this plaque and we would love to be able to find Lisa to see what she knows, and we'd love to be able to find family. .. As a command chief, I can't just let people disappear. We're going to make sure this is properly taken care of."

Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Patriot Ledger subscription. Here is our latest offer. 

Reach Mary Whitfill at mwhitfill@patriotledger.com. 

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: New York-based airmen look to return plaque honoring Quincy POW