Jim Phillips needed direction upon graduating high school in 1963, so he enlisted in the Army. He couldn’t have known then the dramatic experiences he was about to endure.

After initial training, Private Phillips was qualified for vehicle work and was stationed in Alaska, where he dealt with enormous tires and low temperatures. Of his first Alaskan winter, the Californian said, “That was the coldest thing I ever seen in my whole life.” Vehicles couldn’t stop on the ice. The soldiers, even in cold-weather gear, could only function for a limited time in the freezing wind.