The Chosin Few: Marine Corps Cpl. Lee Hugh Phillips

In fall 1950, Cpl. Lee Hugh Phillips found himself in the rugged, sub-freezing terrain of Korea. He was a squad leader in Company E, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines.

Marching north with his fellow Marines toward the Chosin Reservoir, he would soon see some of the fiercest fighting of the Korean War. On Nov. 4, 1950, Phillips and his unit were tasked to capture a heavily fortified hill that had already resisted five previous assaults.

The enemy was deeply entrenched, well-armed and numerically superior. Taking the point position without hesitation, Phillips led his men up the steep slope in a bayonet charge, directly into a storm of mortar shells, small arms and machine-gun fire. When his squad was pinned down, Phillips pushed forward through the barrage.

By the time the squad reached the crest of the hill, only five men remained. Outnumbered and exhausted, he and his small group stood their ground. With rifle fire and grenades, he led a charge that overwhelmed the opposing force.

Phillips and his two remaining men could see the hill’s final enemy stronghold defended by four enemy troops, atop a nearly unreachable rocky cliff. Climbing the jagged slope with one hand, hurling grenades with the other, and against all odds, the trio destroyed the last pocket of resistance and secured the hill. After another counterattack came, Phillips and his men directed fire, repelled the assault and claimed victory for his unit.

That day Phiilips and his men became members of what has henceforth been called “The Chosin Few. ” It was an extraordinary display of courage, leadership, and determination. Though he survived that battle, a few weeks later, on November 27, during continued fighting near the Chosin Reservoir, Cpl.

Lee Hugh Phillips was fatally injured. He was 20. For his actions on that November day, Phillips was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor , the nation’s highest military decoration.

In 1954, his mother accepted the medal on his behalf, a symbol of both immense pride and profound loss. Phillips was the 40th Marine to earn the Medal of Honor for his actions in Korea. Along with that honor, his decorations include the Purple Heart and the Presidential Unit Citation with two Bronze Star medals.

He is remembered not just as a Marine, but as a hero who, in the face of overwhelming odds, chose courage over fear and leadership over safety. Today, his story of “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty” lives on. Cpl.

Lee H. Phillips is buried with his troops near the Chosin Reservoir in Korea. He is memorialized at the Wall of the Missing, National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii, as well as with a cenotaph at the Marietta National Cemetery in Georgia.