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Grand Valley State University
Veterans’ History Project
Phil Owens
Iraq War
43 minutes 5 seconds
(07:10) Early Life, Boot Camp and Training
-Born on December 31st, 1984 in Grand Rapids Michigan.
-Served in the Marines with the highest rank of E5 sergeant.
-Mother is a teacher, and his father is an automotive engineer.
-Siblings – an older sister and a younger brother.
-Enlisted in the military out of high school.
-Wished to join the military since he was young.
-Father and his brothers were both in the Marines.
-Basic training in San Diego lasted 13 weeks.
-Graduated in October of 2003.
-Supply operations and administration schooling at Camp LeJeune in Jacksonville, North
Carolina.
-Then returned to California to be stationed with an infantry battalion he was with before.
-Role and duties: continuing training Marines with infantry, gear inventory, tracking serial
numbers of weaponry gear and food, and budgeting.
-Instructors are intense but serve their purpose.
-Living in barracks, similar to dorms.
-One or two roommates. Based on a squad.
-Food is basic, not bad but not great.
-Made good long term friends socializing.
-Deeply trusting.
-Physical training (P.T.) everyday from a variety of exercises.
-Running, squats, etc.
-Needed to be able to haul an 80 lbs pack of supplies 13 ~ 15 miles.
-Went to machine gunner school.
-Such as the 50 caliber, mk 19 grenade launcher, M240 machine gun.
(18:20) Fallujah and Haditha Iraq
-Sent to Fallujah, Iraq from 2004 to 2005.
-The Second Battle of Fallujah, or Operation Phantom Fury.
-Second tour was at the dam in Haditha, Iraq.
-Locals were more present in the Fallujah area.
-Atmosphere was like the Wild West.
-Seemed similar to Vietnam in terms of War similarities.
-Citizens were not necessarily reticent to assist the US military.
-“House to house”, little by little approach.
-Battles were very intense.
-Considers that the American Sniper movie was fairly accurate in terms of battle portrayal.
-Played soccer with some of the locals.
�(25:00)
-Recreation: watching movies, internet cafes, listening to music, video games, pranks, working
out.
-Making use of the limited things available.
-Being part of the supplies crew he was able to direct exercise supplies to further remote bases
with less options.
-Family and friends would send food they couldn’t otherwise receive on base.
-During holidays attempted to make do. To make wherever they were feel like home.
-After two tours in Iraq, he extended his time by six months.
-His battalion went on a deployment by ship.
-He stayed in the US in order to direct supplies to them quicker.
-Also took funeral detail.
-Has respect for the colonel and sergeant major he worked with during the Battle of Fallujah.
-After the first tour he was able to meet with his family in California.
-Continued to see them here and there during 10 day spans of time.
(33:35) Discharge and Returning to the US
-Discharged from the military in 2008.
-Re-adjusting to civilian life can be difficult to “turn off”.
-He is part of the VFW, Wounded Warrior Project, and Disabled American Veterans.
-Recently started a reunion with others for a 3rd Battalion reunion.
-Post discharge, worked at a machine shop for a while.
-Received his degree in athletic training.
-Worked as a clinical athletic trainer for a hospital.
-Now planning to work for the State Police.
-Always been a very athletic personality.
-Participated in football, track and field, wrestling, and gymnastics at the junior Olympic
level.
-Sports and medicine seemed appealing.
-Married six months before being discharged from the military.
-Married for a little over six years until divorce.
-While the conflicts are over politically, the lingering effects of the War are a common problem
for military members.
-Wishes to live in a way that justifies the struggle of the conflict and the deceased.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Veterans History Project
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Grand Valley State University. History Department
Description
An account of the resource
The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
1914-
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American
Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American
Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American
Michigan--History, Military
Oral history
Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American
United States--History, Military
United States. Air Force
United States. Army
United States. Navy
Veterans
Video recordings
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Smither, James
Boring, Frank
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a>
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-27_OwensP1827V
Title
A name given to the resource
Owens, Philip James (Interview outline and video), 2015
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2015-05-24
Description
An account of the resource
Phil Owens was born in 1984 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He enlisted to the Marines and undertook boot camp in San Diego, California. After graduating in 2003 he was educated for supply operations and administration at Camp LeJune in Jacksonville, North Carolina. His role involved training, keeping track of inventory and serial numbers of gear, and budgeting. Additionally he trained to use specialized weapons in machine gunner school such as the MK19 grenade launcher and the M240. Owens returned to the 3rd Marines battalion in California before being sent on two tours of duty to Iraq. From 2004 to 2005 he was situated in Fallujah where the Second Battle of Fallujah was taking place. The second tour was located in Haditha Iraq. In 2008 he was honorably discharged from the Marines and continues to participate in a variety of groups for war veterans and working as a clinical athletic trainer.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Owens, Philip James
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Houser, Bryce (Interviewer)
Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
Iraq War, 2003-2011--Personal narratives, American
United States. Marine Corps
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Moving Image
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a>
Relation
A related resource
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/x-m4v
application/pdf