Staff Writer
A Woodland man, who already has a Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam, was the sole Aroostook County recipient last week of the governor’s Silver Star award.
The Western Union telegram that Philip Knowlton’s parents received when he was seriously wounded in Vietnam in 1966 is shown in the foreground amid the medals and other commendations that Knowlton received during his military service. Knowlton received the Silver Star medal, in the box on the right, last week from Gov. Baldacci for his service to the country.
Philip Knowlton didn’t attend the Hall of Flags ceremony, but he was glad to add the state’s military award to his collection of medal and certificates he keeps at his cozy house in Woodland.
Gov. John E. Baldacci presented State of Maine Silver Star Honorable Service medal to 30 veterans across the state. The first medals, awarded to those who have been wounded while serving their country, were presented in August of 2006.
The medals symbolize “appreciation for what I accomplished” during his military service, Knowlton said during an interview earlier this week. “They do mean a lot. I couldn’t wait to go (in the service).”
The telegram came to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Lester Knowlton, in January of 1966 that their son, Army PFC Philip Knowlton, had been seriously wounded in Vietnam. A 20-year-old medic, Knowlton was with other troops cleaning up a village area following a battle. According to press reports at the time, he bent over to pick something up. As he did, a sniper’s bullet struck him in the chest.
“I screamed,” Knowlton recalled. “ ‘Help me, Im hit.’ “
Knowlton had been wounded just above the heart and that began several months of convalescence in hospitals in Vietnam, the Philippines, and California and later in Pennsylvania.
But, just a few days before he was wounded, Knowlton rendered the life-saving aid to his wounded comrades that earned him the Bronze Star Medal for Heroism.
According to the official Army record, PFC Knowlton was a member of a platoon fighting the Viet Cong force near Cu Chi. Heavy casualties were realized from the an initial burst of enemy fire.
“With complete disregard for his personal safety, exposed himself to the intense barrage of automatic weapons and mortar fire … crawled through 100 meters of deep water and mud to safely evacuate a wounded soldier from the direct line of hostile fire,” the Army record said.
Knowlton later personally directed the medical evacuation of the wounded and faced hostile fire while carrying wounded men across an open rice paddy to helicopters.
“A lot of guys got killed right around me,” Knowlton said. “A man was cut in half and another had been decapitated.”
He had yelled to a machine gunner on his left to help him carry a wounded soldier. The gunner was hit by enemy fire and was killed instantly.
“I don’t know how that bullet missed me,” Knowlton said.
Knowlton started his military career with the Army National Guard in Caribou. In 1965, he attended paratrooper school at Fort Benning Ga., and received his medical training at Fort Dix, N.J.
After recovery from his wounds, he returned to active duty until 1968. But two years later Knowlton returned to the Army and served in Germany and back in Vietnam, where he worked in the treatment center for American soldiers trying to kick the drug habit.
He finally left the Army in 1973 and moved back to Caribou. He rounded out his military career by working at the former Loring Air Force Base. He also spent some time working in the U.S. Postal Service.
The Aroostook Republican carried stories of Knowlton’s military experiences in 1966. In addition to the clippings, Knowlton kept the original Western Union telegram informing his parents of his injuries.
Knowlton also has medals for his Vietnam service, the Good Conduct Medal and the National Defense Medal.
Knowlton said that he volunteered twice to serve in the military.
“I think most people should do something for their country and serve in some way,” he said.
Aroostook Republian photoPFC Philip Knowlton, as shown in the 1966 issue of the Aroostook Republican.
