Hometown Heroes: Chuck Phillips, Air Force Vet shares story

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - With Veterans Day just weeks away, we are sharing the stories of locals from the Desert Southwest who are part of our Veteran community.

Yuma local, Chuck Phillips, served in the Air Force from 1962 to 1966 as an Airman First Class.

“I joined the Air Force because my dad wasn’t able to join the service, he worked on a farm at that time, his one brother was already in the war and they wouldn’t accept him,” said Chuck Phillips, an Air Force Veteran.

Phillips said going through school, he knew he would join the service. 

“I was a pretty good mechanic all the way through school, so I applied for the Air Force as an A & E mechanic which I got right away and I spent three years in Hawaii at Hickam Air Force Base, and my last year there I got transferred to Glasgow, Montana,” said Phillips.

Phillips served in the Air Force during the Vietnam conflict, flying to Vietnam and other areas. 

“All we did was, land, re-fuel and we were gone back home again, I was in no combat zones or anything but served during that duration over there," said Phillips.

He said his favorite part of serving in the Air Force was working on the aircraft.

And now that he’s a Veteran, he looks forward to representing VFW post 8242 in Yuma’s Veterans Day parade every year. 

“I pull the float in the parade uptown here in Yuma, I help decorate it. And this year, we have a special, I probably shouldn’t say what we’re doing, it’s supposed to be a secret, but I’m building a tank to put on our float to represent our post out here,” said Phillips. 

Tune in every Thursday as we profile other locals leading up to Veterans Day.