Dr. Phillips is an NRA Life member and an avid collector of military firearms. He owns everything from Revolutionary and Civil War-era muskets to a Trapdoor Rifle, a nice M1898 Krag, an M1917 Eddystone Enfield and an Underwood M1 Carbine. He also owns the Colt M1911 semi-automatic pistol his father brought back from World War I as well as the Japanese Arisaka rifle he picked up on the battlefield at Cape Gloucester in 1944. As interesting and diverse as this collection seems, there is one essential piece missing—the M1903 rifle. The man who can still remember the serial number of the ’03 he carried through Marine Recruit Training in 1942 does not currently own an example of the rifle. Nevertheless, a Remington M1903 was made available to him for a recent afternoon of shooting on the farm. When the rifle was placed in his hands, it was as if 86-year-old Sid Phillips was 17-year-old Pvt. Sid Phillips all over again. He immediately demonstrated a sequence of well-executed rifle drill moves followed by a quick demonstration of all of the shooting positions that he learned at Parris Island almost 70 years earlier. On his backyard firing line, his massive hands manipulated the ’03 with such precision that it appeared to be something he has been doing every day since the FDR administration. After his first few shots, it was immediately clear that his individual marksmanship skill level has not degraded at all. That nearly 9 pounds of steel and wood transformed Sid Phillips, the retired physician, back into Sid Phillips, the expert Marine rifleman.

Today’s entertainment industry can elevate an unknown individual to the level of household name. Celebrity status has certainly been delivered to countless unexceptional mediocrities in the reality television world. During the past decade, however, the entertainment industry has also conferred celebrity status on such names as Bill Guarnere, Don Malarkey and Richard D. Winters. The fact that this has also happened to Dr. Sidney Clarke Phillips, Jr., demonstrates that the world can still recognize a role model when it sees one. This son of Alabama never boasts about his wartime service and remains surprised by the army of well-wishers who want to shake his hand during his public appearances. If humility is the greatest of virtues, Sid Phillips has achieved greatness and deserves every bit of the accolade that he now receives in such abundance. Strangely, he does not seem interested in accolade at all. He would much rather go out in the backyard and do a little shooting.