Some of the early articles seemed to refer to Mr. Phillips as a Vietnam War veteran. Some refer to Vietnam War Era veteran which is a loser term with a broader meaning. This has probably been used in the media , I would assume to elevate his credibility and worthiness of respect, (if he indeed was a soldier in Vietnam.) If he did so, ok. However, it implies he is 64. In all likelihood he would not have seen action in Vietnam due to his age. For the most part the actual fighting for Americans was over by the end of 1972 or very early 1973. From then Until the final removal from the roof of the embassy in 1975 it was largely closure. In any case if he did serve there, so be it. He identifies as a Former Marine. Perhaps if he wants to identify as this he should have records of his service. The math doesn’t add up. He seems to be a regular on the protest scene.
I didn’t see anything in the videos that I viewed that imply the boys did anything wrong. I am not sure I could have just stood there and smiled as the one boy did with someone pounding a drum in my face. If anybody there exemplified the spirit of MLK, it was this boy. Pacifism and courage. Also some of the things said to the black teenager with the Catholic group were Reprehensible.