Beaufort’s Wally Phinney, Jr., 87, attended school on Parris Island while his Marine father was stationed there. He joined the United States Army in 1957 when he matriculated at Clemson University in the Army ROTC. Graduating in 1962, he attended Officer Training at Fort Benning, Ga., before being assigned as an Infantry Company commander at Fort Jackson.
He was next assigned to Hawaii, from which he was sent to Vietnam near Cu Chi, where he led a 40-man platoon on combat operations on the Ho Chi Minh Trail and in the delta. He next served at Fort Dix, N.J., providing advanced infantry training for those headed to Vietnam. Next he attended the Signal Corps School at Fort Monmouth, N.J., before a 3-year assignment at the Area NATO Headquarters in Izmir, Turkey.
Thereafter, he taught ROTC at Morehead State University in Kentucky. He was promoted to Major there before a second tour in Vietnam near Saigon at the major radio relay station for the whole country, earning a Bronze Star. He then instructed at the Combat Communications School at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., before a year of unaccompanied duty in Korea. His final assignment was as an instructor at the Signal School at Fort Gordon, Ga.
Phinney retired in 1982 as a Major with 20 years of service. His wife says they moved 17 times. He was a substitute teacher for Beaufort County for five years and holds a Coast Guard qualification as a charter boat captain; he ran a charter service for 34 years.
Compiled by John Chubb, American Legion Post 207. For Veteran Of The Week nominations, contact jechubb1@gmail.com.
