Writing for the Right Reasons

Fair Winds and Following Seas to Tom Phillips — Writing for the Right Reasons

By CAPT George Galdorisi, USN (Ret.)

Earlier this year, we lost Tom Phillips as a valued shipmate, squadronmate, NHA member and awesome contributor to Rotor Review. Elsewhere in this issue of Rotor Review you’ll read a lovely tribute to Tom’s half-century of service to the Navy and the Nation. This captures the man vastly better than I can here.

So, what more is there left to say? Plenty. Many of you who never met Tom “know” him from his many columns in Rotor Review. And if math is your sport, you likely have calculated that Tom wrote more columns for Rotor Review than anyone else. Always containing not just facts – but awesome storytelling and great humor – those were the “must read” columns for many of us.

I want to tell you more about Tom Phillips as a writer that I learned when we collaborated on the book: Leave No Man Behind: The Saga of Combat Search and Rescue. I say “we” advisedly, because Tom was the major contributor to the book, and I was his wingman. If you know Tom, and have read the book, you will understand why.

A short time after we wrote the book, Tom said: “People are asking us why we wrote the book. We should tell them.” He did the heavy lifting, and here is what he came up with:

By way of background, here is why we wrote the book and why we are actively “getting the word out” on this book. Decades ago, the motto of Combat Search and Rescue Squadrons was “We prevent POWs.” It was an apt motto. But today, that is no longer the motto – and for good reason.

The new brand of warfare we face as a nation more often than not involves a fight against an ideologically fanatical enemy. Today, if one of our young warriors is caught behind enemy lines they won’t become a POW. Instead, this fanatical enemy will torture and maim them and then slit their throats on the Internet in front of billions of people.

Therefore, in our view, the urgency to rescue our men and women caught behind enemy lines has never been more compelling. Unfortunately, with a troubled economy and with many, many other competing military priorities, we are concerned that unless the absolute requirement to provide the best equipment and training for our CSAR forces becomes part of a National debate, the requisite emphasis and funding won’t be provided for our CSAR warriors.

Leave No Man Behind: The Saga of Combat Search and Rescue represents our four-year effort to chronicle the rich history of this specialized discipline as a venue for both telling incredibly exciting tales, as well as suggesting the future of U.S.

CSAR capability will not be bright unless Americans demand that it is so. Perhaps enough on why we wrote the book.

The reaction to Leave No Man Behind (Zenith Books, 2009) has been quite positive. It is widely recognized as the definitive work of combat search and rescue. It is enjoying brisk sales with major booksellers and is a featured book with the Military Book Club, and has recently been added to the Chief of Naval Operations reading list for military professionals.

Leave No Man Behind: The Saga of Combat Search and Rescue has received laudatory reviews in The New York Post (Ralph Peters), U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, Naval War College Review, Wings of Gold, The Hook, Naval Aviation News, Rotor Review, and other publications and websites. Noted writers such as Norman Polmar, Dr. Norman Friedman, Dick Couch, Darrel Whitcomb and others have enthusiastically “blurbed” this book. And importantly, Dr. John Darrell Sherwood, Historian of the United States Navy has also positively endorsed this book.

That’s all good stuff, and it was important word to get out there, but the most important point that I want to make here is that Tom didn’t stop once the book was published, that merely got him started, and I think it is the perfect example of why people write books and articles – to communicate.

After Leave No Man Behind was published, Tom took the initiative to establish a website so we could communicate with readers. Wow, that was a great idea. We heard from various readers several times a week, and Tom used those interactions to raise so many people up in ways that stick with me today.

Most of the communications from readers ran something like this: “In Chapter 22, you talked about CSAR during the Korean War. My father was a mechanic in an Army unit that did CSAR north of Seoul.” The person would mention his relative’s name and a little bit about his background. Most people just wanted to share that and didn’t even expect a response.

You may find it hard to believe, but CSAR has such a rich history that even a 642-page book couldn’t cover it all – to do that, Leave No Man Behind would had to have been twice, or even three times as long. But Tom still had all the information that we could have used had we wanted the book to be a doorstop.

For every communication from readers, Tom considered what was sent, and then sent back a detailed response, quite often telling them things about their relative’s military service that they had not previously known. Every missive he provided was filled with passion, humor, and quite often, required a bit of research on his part.

What gifts he gave, not just in his original writing, but in lifting readers up through his professionalism and, quite frankly, caring. Tom’s writing made an impact in multiple ways, just like when you throw a pebble into a pond. This, to me, and I suspect to many others, is Tom Phillip’s lasting legacy.

Links to a few of Tom Phillip's recent articles in the Rotor Review:

RR# 128 Spring 2015 "Reminiscences of a 2.75” Rocket Marksman" (Page 87) - https://issuu.com/rotorrev/docs/rr128digital/88

RR# 129 Summer 2015 "Shine Angel Shine" (Page 53) - https://issuu.com/rotorrev/docs/rr129_digital/54

RR# 133 Summer 2016 "Just Because the Army Had It" (Page 60) - https://issuu.com/rotorrev/docs/rr133_digital/62

RR# 134 Fall 2016 "High Drink Part I" (Page 56) - https://issuu.com/rotorrev/docs/rr134_completedigital_/58

RR# 135 Winter 2017 "High Drink Part II" (Page 66) - https://issuu.com/rotorrev/docs/rr135_digital

RR# 136 Spring 2017 "Lost Comms" (Page 44) - https://issuu.com/rotorrev/docs/rr-136.spring17 RR# 145 Coast Guard Helicopter Pilots in Vietnam - https://issuu.com/rotorrev/docs/rr145.summer.19.digital

RR#146 Fall 2019 . "SAR Insurance" (Page 74) - https://issuu.com/rotorrev/docs/rr146.fall.digital

RR# 147 Winter 2020 "We are All Going to Die Playing Football" (Page 78) - https://issuu.com/rotorrev/docs/rr_147_winter_2020 RR# 150 Fall 2020 "Awfully Slow Warfare" (Page 64) - https://issuu.com/rotorrev/docs/rr150.fall.2020

RR#153 Summer 2021 "Enforcing the Tet Cease Fire" (Page 78) - https://issuu.com/rotorrev/docs/rr_153_summer.2021