On the back patio of the Sharon Center for Health and Rehabilitation, beneath a wide September sky, neighbors from Pine Plains gathered to honor a soldier who has carried their community’s history for a century.
George Phillips, born in Poughkeepsie on Sept. 13, 1925, and raised in Amenia, turned 100 last weekend. Members of the Pine Plains VFW and the Pine Plains and Millerton chapters of Wreaths Across America organized the celebration, bringing with them certificates, proclamations and, above all, gratitude.
Wrapped in a blanket in his wheelchair, Phillips looked around at the family and friends who gathered to celebrate, his eyes as blue as the sky above — eyes that have witnessed both the best and the worst of a century. “It’s my 100th birthday!” he announced with a smile.
At just 18 years old, Phillips enlisted in the Army Reserve. Two years later, he was a staff sergeant in the 87th Infantry Division, fighting through the snow and chaos of the Battle of the Bulge. After he was wounded, he refused the Purple Heart, his daughter, Dianne, said — he didn’t want his parents to worry because another son had already been sent home injured.
“He didn’t want his parents to worry,” she said. “Now he regrets it, but that was him — always thinking of others first.”
For his service, Phillips earned the American Theater Ribbon, the European-African-Middle Eastern Ribbon, the Good Conduct Medal and the Victory Medal. In 2017, he returned to Belgium, where he was honored as a liberator and his photograph was placed in the Bastogne War Museum.
After the war, Phillips and his wife, Ann, ran the Edgewood Restaurant in Amenia from 1955 to 1972. Later, he turned to real estate, raised his two daughters, Deb and Dianne Phillips.
On Saturday, the celebration mixed official honors with heartfelt gestures. Dutchess County Executive Sue Serino issued a proclamation praising Phillips’s “extraordinary service, contributions and legacy.” Assistant County Executive Gregg Pulver presented the proclamation. Children from Pine Plains’ summer camp had drawn cards — some crayon-bright with the words “Happy Birthday George” and others simple: “Thank you.”
