Lieutenant General John Phillips of East Providence and Washington, D.C., had a distinguished career in the United States Marine Corps, covering thirty-five years with tours of duty in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars. He was highly-decorated with numerous awards, citations, and key leadership positions, and received the Navy Marine Corps Distinguished Service Medal, the nation’s highest military award for peacetime service. A former stand-out athlete at LaSalle Academy, he received Boston University’s Outstanding Alumni Award for Distinguished Public Service to the profession.