Philip James Hoza, III
History of Military Service
September 11, 1966 – September 11, 1969
U.S. Army Service:
• Combat helicopter pilot in Vietnam, wounded and med-evacuated to the U.S. (date?)
• 19 combat decorations
o 1 Purple Heart
o 2 Distinguished Flying Crosses
o 1 Air Medal for Valor
o 15 Air Medal Decorations for aerial flight
• Completed service as a helicopter instrument instructor at Hunter Army Air Field, Savannah, GA
• Retired with the rank of US Army Captain and 1533 hours of military flight time
My interest in the military began as a Boy Scout (achieved Eagle Scout rank) in Troop 2, Wilmette, IL, and later as a “Squad Leader” with Jack Fox’s Explorer Post 2.
• Graduated from New Trier High School (Winnetka, IL) with 2 years of basic ROTC.
• Graduated from the University of North Dakota (Grand Forks, ND) as a 2nd Lieutenant after 4 years of Army ROTC.
• Participated in advanced training at Fort Lewis, Washington
o Placed 4th in the Ft. Lewis graduating class
o Placed 1st in the North Dakota graduating class
• Upon graduation from UND, attended Basic Armor Officer course at Fort Knox, Kentucky
o Commissioned as US Army Tank Platoon Leaders
o Selected to attend flight school
• Attended flights chool at Fort Wolters, Texas. (January, 1967)
o 8 week training on the Hiller OH-23 helicopter
• Advanced flight training at Fort Rucker, Alabama
o Received US Army Wings
• September, 1967, sent to Vietnam.
o Assigned to the 336th Assault Helicopter Company located in the Southern Delta (Soc Trang, RVN)
o The 336th consisted of 2 platoons of lift or troop carrying UH-D Huey helicopters known as The Warriors.
o The platoons flew over the entire delta supporting MACV units and the special forces units located there.
• October, 1967, joined the T-Birds, single-gun platoon supporting and protecting the Warriors and troops on the ground.
o Helicopters were B-Model UH 1 gunships
• Wounded during the 1968 Tet Offensive, evacuated February 10, 1968
o 10 days after being wounded, entire T-Bird crew (Kosovich, Sheppard, Ewalt, and Phipps) was shot down and KIA off the end of the runway in Soc Trang
• Served in Vietnam 4 months, 28 days.
o Flew 533 hours
o Received 15 Air Medals for Flight (Air Medals were awarded 1 for every 50 hours of missions and 1 for every 25 hours of combat assault.)